


Broken

by etcetera_kit



Series: Broken [1]
Category: Super Sentai Series, 宇宙戦隊キュウレンジャー | Uchu Sentai Kyuranger
Genre: Bad Decisions, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Refugees, Rehabilitation, Smut, Social Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:09:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 53,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etcetera_kit/pseuds/etcetera_kit
Summary: Echidna finds herself exiled from the Ophiuchus System. Scorpio wakes up from cryo-freeze. Their paths were never meant to cross, but sometimes life finds a way.
Relationships: Echidna (Kyuranger)/Scorpio (Kyuranger), Naga Ray/Stinger
Series: Broken [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775209
Comments: 20
Kudos: 12





	1. the World Turned Upside Down

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go, dear readers! My Echidna and Scorpio take. You get the first two chapters for now to set up both of them, but then one chapter at a time. :) Enjoy!
> 
> Note: Without too many spoilers, there is a scene in this chapter that can best be described as "I did something I regret."

**1/ the World Turned Upside Down**

_When you knock me down, I get the fuck back up again…_

Echidna pulled the blanket over her head and rolled over to face the wall. She hated this facility, this room, even the blanket, but there was nothing she could do to change things. She didn’t want to be here, didn’t even want to be alive, but she was too weak and scared and _stupid_ to do anything about the situation.

After all this time, after everything she had done for them…

Didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Genetics was the only factor. She’d killed so many people for them, felt nothing, just did her duty. But then along came Naga Ray, and she let him go. He was the only opponent to best her, and his friends had pulled him back from the edge. And he was a Kyuranger! Something mentioned nowhere in her files. She’d regarded his Kyuranger friends with cool indifference, but she could not believe her superiors said nothing.

Then the elders announced a genome was found to be susceptible to emotions—and she knew before they began collecting those from the genome. She was from the same genome as Naga Ray. They were the same age, had gone through school and training together until their paths diverged with their careers. She was the youngest assassin ever to be sent on missions. She voluntarily went through emotional suppression after each kill. And yet, she was stripped of all belongings, honors and money, and escorted onto the cargo ship, just like everyone else. Sent to this forsaken scrap of dirt, in a dingy building that Rebellion had turned into a refugee center.

“Fuck,” she muttered into the pillow.

Swearing was not allowed in the Ophiuchus System. Actually using those words did not make her feel better, but she could now, so why not?

In order to get out of this place, she had to attend classes, complete some sort of program. They wouldn’t restrict where she could go, and they would help her apply for work programs and benefits (until she had her own income), but she couldn’t bring herself to face anyone else, not even to leave the room to get food. Her stomach growled horribly, and she was shaking from thirst and hunger, but the thought of seeing other people stopped her. She had been a respected member of her system, and now? She was just another worker bee, trying to make ends meet.

Someone would come in here soon. They wouldn’t let her just rot away in this room.

The door opened softly.

Not one of the Rebellion workers then. They were loud and cheerful and grated on her nerves.

Soft, almost silent, footsteps came to the side of her bed and stopped.

“Hello, Echidna.”

She knew exactly who this was. _Naga Ray_. “Go away,” she snapped.

“No,” Naga replied neutrally. “I am staying until you get out of bed and eat something.”

“I’m not hungry,” she retorted automatically, but then her stomach betrayed her by letting out the loudest noise possible.

“I know you’re angry and hurting. I want to help.”

“You can’t help! You’re the reason I’m here!”

“I know. And I’m sorry.” She heard Naga sit down in the folding chair in her room. “Will you please come out of the blanket? I brought you some things.”

“What things?”

“You have to come out of the blanket to find out.”

“I hate you.”

She didn’t really hate him—couldn’t muster enough energy for an emotion that strong right now. Funny that she recognized hate as a strong emotion. As an assassin, she had traveled the galaxy, identifying and bringing in rogue members of the Ophiuchus System. There were more than any elder would admit to, and she saw lots of people and beings, living out their lives. She supposed they were happy with the messy emotions that ruled their lives. She hated feeling this way. She didn’t want to suffer or be humiliated, and there was no way she could finish this program without those things happening. Tears burned her eyes and spilled over, and she muffled a sob. Great, now she was crying in front of Naga Ray, of all the ridiculous things to do.

Naga’s hand was suddenly on her shoulder, rubbing soothing circles.

“It’s all right to be upset and scared,” he said softly.

And now that the horrible emotions were spilling over, she just cried, “I can’t do this.”

“Echidna,” he continued, still rubbing those circles and she didn’t know why that motion was comforting. “I was always jealous of you in school. You were at the top of everything, and you made it all seem so effortless. Didn’t matter what it was—sports, art, classes. I wasn’t surprised they chose you to be an Enforcer.” He paused, and added, “But they could have chosen you to do anything and you would have excelled. That’s just what you do.”

Underneath the blanket was hot and she couldn’t breath very well, not with the continued sobs, so she pushed the blanket down and turned a little to face Naga. He was standing next to her bed, expression concerned. He wasn’t wearing his Kyuranger jacket or anything silver anymore. She’d seen people on other planets dressed similarly to him—denim pants, a button-down shirt and a sweater. His hair was shorter than the typical Ophiuchus style, and he’d definitely put on more muscle definition since the last time she saw him. He was out here thriving. She couldn’t do the same.

That single thought made practically hysterical sobs come out of her. Naga frowned, looking almost sad. He sat down on the edge of her bed, and used the fact that she’d untangled herself a little from the blankets and turned as leverage to pull her into a hug. That simple gesture brought her more relief than anything so far, so she just continued to cry, hands clutching his shirt. Naga rocked her back and forth a little, murmuring about how everything would be all right.

After a while, she was too exhausted to cry any more and just slumped against him.

“You need some food,” Naga said quietly and evenly. “I brought soup, because that will be easiest on your stomach at first. But I have some bread and fruit, if you feel up to trying that. And lots of water.”

She nodded and pulled away from him, suddenly too tired to even argue. She was utterly and completely exhausted, and her entire body ached. She pushed her hair away from her face, realizing for perhaps the first time that she hadn’t showered in days, so her hair was tangled and greasy. Naga would eventually insist she do something about that. And she would. But the soup he pulled out of a cloth carrying bag smelled amazing.

Settling across from her on the bed, Naga opened the soup container and pulled a spoon from the bag. He handed her both. Her hands shook a little, but she kept a grip on the container. Somehow that small victory made her feel a little better.

“Miso soup,” he explained as he also pulled out a bottle of water. “Spada made us a lot of meals we could freeze the last time he was on the Orion.” He paused, and added, “Orion is our ship.”

She knew that, but didn’t feel like correcting him. Instead, she took a sip of the soup. The one thing she’d noticed since coming here was how much _flavor_ the food had. Other people complained about the food being bland, but none of the food in the Ophiuchus System tasted like anything. Just nothing with all the nutrition they needed. And damn, this soup tasted amazing. (Honestly, right now, she probably would have thought that anything she ate tasted amazing.)

“I know the standard issue stuff around here can be a little… rough.” He motioned to the bag on the floor, “So I brought some clothes and a few other things.”

She nodded, paying more attention to the soup. Naga was frowning at her, but the frown was not about the current situation. Was he staring at her... hair?

“What?” she asked, and the word came out more aggressive than she intended.

But this was Naga, so he didn’t notice the wrong tone. Instead, he asked, “Can I braid your hair?”

She blurted the first question that came to mind, which was, “You know how to braid hair?”

Naga nodded earnestly. “Stinger taught me.” He sounded proud.

“Who’s Stinger?” she muttered.

Naga, meanwhile, seemed to take her lack of a response as permission, and he pulled a hairbrush from the bag. He stood slightly behind her, one knee on the bed, and ran the brush through the tangled hair. He gently tugged at the knots, working them out, to the point that she barely felt the brush. She just continued eating the soup. “Stinger is another Kyuranger,” Naga explained briefly as he brushed and she ate. “Sasori Orange.”

“The scorpion one?”

“Yes.”

“You’re friends with him? I thought you were friends with the mechanical one.”

“Balance, yes,” Naga confirmed, “but I have more friends than Balance. Stinger is one.”

“Why did he teach you how to braid?”

“It’s important to him. Warriors in his tribe have braids in their hair, and they’re in the desert, so they often put their hair in multiple braids to keep it out of their faces. Almost no one from his tribe survived the Jark Matter invasion, so he wants to pass on the traditions, keep them alive.”

“Why are you offering now?”

“It’s a practical skill, and it will keep your hair back.” A pause, and then, “I practiced on Hammie’s hair because she has long hair. Now, when I see Hammie, I braid her hair. Like it’s our tradition.”

“You’re courting her.”

“No.” Naga didn’t sound annoyed. “She’s a close friend, but we’re not courting.” He added, “They also call it dating out here.”

Naga put an elastic band around the end of the braid. Echidna finished the last of the soup. Naga took the soup container from her, and opened the other food containers. Some kind of flat bread, and a mix of fruit, most of which she did not recognize.

“Pita bread,” he explained. “And the fruit is from Earth—apples, grapes, strawberries and blueberries. Drink some water—slowly. And try some of the food, please.”

He began unpacking the bag. The clothes he brought seemed largely unisex, although the camisoles and underwear were definitely made for females. “Raptor figured you and I had about the same measurements, so she went roughly off that for the clothes.” He suddenly noticed that she hadn’t touched any of the additional food or water. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, unable to shake the fears. Tears stung her eyes again.

Naga sat down across from her on the bed, reaching out to squeeze her wrist comfortingly.

“I can’t do this,” she said haltingly. “I can’t do the classes to get out of this place. They’ll all know I’m from the Ophiuchus System, and they’ll know I failed and—”

“Echidna,” Naga interrupted gently. “You didn’t fail. And no one will care where you’re from.”

“I don’t have any skills to use out there!” she said, more shrilly than she wanted.

“Did you not listen when I said I was jealous of you in school?” Naga sounded almost amused. “You can do anything. Standard high school training in the Ophiuchus System is the equivalent of a university degree anywhere else. You can do programming, engineering, research—anything you want. This entire place is designed to help you figure that out.”

“I’m scared,” she mumbled.

“I know. This is a scary situation to be in.”

She looked up at Naga. “Do I have to…” She trailed off, thinking of how to phrase the question. “I mean, you don’t really anymore, so do I… have to look like I’m from the Ophiuchus System?”

“No,” Naga replied. “You don’t.” He stood up. “Drink some water, and then how about you go take a shower? I’ll call some friends of mine to help with that.”

“You just did the braid. I’ll have to take it out to shower.”

“That’s okay.” Naga selected some clothes from the pile at the foot of the bed, and then a towel, and some shower items—scented body wash and shampoo, face scrub. He also handed her the brush.

She looked at the clothes—denim pants, underwear, a black bra-like thing and a gray tank top—and whispered, “Do you have a warmer top?” This entire place was so fucking cold.

“Of course,” he replied, and extracted a black hoodie from the pile.

She drank the water, even though the additional liquid made her stomach feel like weird sloshing, and took the pile of things into the bathroom.

\-----------------

When she got out of the shower, she could hear voices in her room.

“You’re giving a makeover, and I give the best makeovers!” A female, perhaps android, voice.

“Raptor,” said a new male voice, who sounded exasperated. “I said we were possibly cutting and dying her hair, not giving a makeover.”

“You said to get nail polish!”

“I thought she might want that to cover the gray nails!”

“Besides,” Raptor did not sound deterred, “I picked out all the new clothes!”

“Raptor,” Naga interrupted. “We’ll just see what she’s comfortable with.” Some shuffling and a pause, and then Naga asked, “Stinger, did you bring what I asked?”

“Yeah,” Stinger replied. “They only had purple at the store. I hope that’s okay.”

“It will be fine,” was the quiet reply.

Echidna dried off and dressed quickly. She hadn’t brought any socks or shoes into the bathroom and regretted not remembering. Her feet were already cold. She pulled on the hoodie, snuggling into the warmth a little. She didn’t want to go out there and see Naga’s friends, but her feet were getting extremely cold too quickly. Necessity forced her hand. She stepped into the room, purposely avoiding eye contact with anyone. Shuffling towards the bed, she asked Naga (or his general direction), “Socks?”

Naga moved into her field of vision and pulled a pair of fluffy socks from the clothes pile. He handed them to her, and she sat on the bed, quickly pulling them on. Unlike the rest of the clothing, the socks were multi-colored, almost riotous compared to the muted colors on everything else. She stared at the socks for a long moment.

“Echidna?” Naga prompted softly.

She looked up. “Nothing,” she whispered. “I’ve just never worn clothes with this many colors.”

Naga’s smile was very subtle, and as she looked up, she caught one thing very clearly—Naga wasn’t courting Hammie or Balance, he was courting Stinger. Yes, he’d described Stinger as merely a friend, but a friend did not turn up with an android in tow to help someone he didn’t know. Stinger’s eyes softened just a little when he looked at Naga, and Naga was turned slightly towards Stinger. All the body language aside, Naga had a small tattoo on his wrist—the Scorpius constellation. Stinger had one in the exact same place, only his was the Ophiuchus constellation.

Her gaze cut to Stinger and then back to Naga.

“How long have you two been fucking?”

Stinger made a startled noise and flushed immediately. Naga’s eyes widened. Raptor squawked, “They’re in love, and getting married!” as if she needed to defend their honor.

Naga’s smile was back. “We’ve been dating for two years. And Raptor is right, we are engaged to be married.” He paused and asked, “How did you know?”

“The tattoos.” Naga subconsciously brought a hand to rub his. “And other stuff, but mostly the tattoos.”

“Impressive,” Stinger commented.

“Anyways,” Naga continued, pushing past her comment. “We brought some hair dye and nail polish. Stinger can also cut your hair, if you want.”

“Anything particular you want?” Stinger asked. “I can do simple things, nothing elaborate.”

“Just much shorter,” she mumbled. “What color dye?”

“Blue and purple,” was the response, with Stinger adding, “Figured we could streak it through your natural color and it would look like that was done on purpose.”

In the end, Echidna picked at the fruit, sampling some of the selections, while they balanced in the bathroom. Stinger cut her hair shorter, a few centimeters over her shoulders (but still long enough to put into braids.) Raptor ended up helping with the dye, and the blue and purple streaks looked pretty good. After they rinsed out the dye and dried her hair, Naga put her hair into two braids. Raptor then painted her nails—she had multiple colors of glittery nail polish, and Echidna just stared at the bursting colors.

Afterwards, Raptor lined up all the bottles of nail polish, saying they were Echidna’s to keep. It was late, so Echidna knew they needed to leave. Naga helped her fold the new clothes, putting them away in the small chest of drawers in her room. He also went over the various toiletries with her, explaining their use (which she appreciated because things were very different in the Ophiuchus System, but still gave him a bored look.)

“You’ll want to change into more comfortable clothes to sleep,” Naga said as they prepared to leave. He reached into a plastic bag and brought out a blanket. “And we got you this. Might be warmer than the normal blankets here.”

The blanket was purple and fuzzy, thicker than the blankets here. Just touching the blanket, Echidna could tell that it would be much warmer. She might even be able to sleep comfortably that night.

“Also,” Naga continued, “We weren’t sure if you wanted to try holding something while you slept, but that helps some people sleep better, so we got this.” He pulled out what Echidna recognized as a teddy bear. (She’d been to many planets where children—and adults—had the soft, plush animals and seemed to be very attached to them.)

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But thank you.”

“I’ll be back in the morning. Go to breakfast with you. Help you figure out the classes.”

“Classes?”

Naga was sympathetic, but firm when he replied, “You need to complete the classes. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can be in your own space, away from here.”

She nodded, holding back tears at the idea of actually going to the classes. She knew what Naga said was right. And maybe if he was going to go with her… Naga gave her a hug before the three of them left and she was startled by how much that ridiculous gesture meant to her. Like, Naga cared about her. Maybe he was her friend? She didn’t really know. She was puzzled by relationships out here.

Once they were gone, she evaluated the clothes and only changed from the denim pants to a looser pair of soft pants. With the blanket and her bear, she climbed into bed, snuggling into the warmth and softness. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to fall asleep, but moments after her head touched the pillow, she was _out_.

\------------------

The next morning, Naga re-braided her hair before they went to breakfast. The dining hall was loud and bustling and Echidna immediately hated the noise. Nothing in the Ophiuchus System was this loud. She’d hated all the times on other planets, when she’d gone to track down a rogue member of the Ophiuchus System, and had to deal with loud noises. One person she apprehended and brought back had been hiding in a club, the bass rattling her down to the bones. She understood why people went to places like that, but she didn’t understand why the music had to be so _loud_.

She did not understand the food options on the hot line, so Naga had to explain things to her. If he was annoyed, he managed to remain neutral when he realized he needed to reduce his explanation of the food to _sweet_ or _savory_ , and _hot_ or _cold_. When she’d been off planet before, she just brought nutritional supplement packs with her, so she would not need to bother with the food. She wondered if those were available out here. Food choices were overwhelming.

The pancakes seemed too sweet, but they did have the fruit like last night. And Naga said oatmeal was hot and bland, maybe a little sweet if she added something, like sugar. He also insisted she get turkey bacon, because she needed protein and that option wouldn’t be as strong as the regular stuff.

“You’ll pick the food thing up quickly,” Naga told her as they made their way from the line to the beverage station. She was already shivering again and wanted hot tea. “I did.”

“It’s too much to remember.”

“It can seem that way.”

“Don’t they just have nutritional supplements here?”

Naga blinked. “The shakes?” When she nodded, he confirmed, “You can get something similar if you don’t want to bother with the food. But you’ll need to navigate the food while you’re here. They do not have the shakes here.”

She wanted to ask if he could get them for her, but he was already doing too much. Just showing up last night was too much. Naga might have been the catalyst that set off the expulsions from the Ophiuchus System, but the real problem was the elders. No choice. She would have happily gone through reconditioning again. _Happily_. Honestly, the more she thought about their excommunication, beyond her own anger, she was surprised the Ophiuchus System hadn’t just eliminated all of them. They’d done that before. But maybe having one of their rogue members become a Kyuranger made them cautious. If Naga found out about a mass murder… well, she couldn’t imagine Rebellion, the Galactic Federation or the Kyurangers reacting well to _that_.

At the drink station, Naga showed her how to brew the tea and asked if she wanted honey or sugar. She shook her head. A Rebellion worker had brought her the plain black tea a few days ago and she’d liked the warm drink. He did suggest she sprinkle a little brown sugar on her oatmeal, which she conceded. And Naga did try to find a table further away from people, not as loud.

She wrapped her hands around her mug of tea, trying to chase away the constant chill that had settled in her since being here. The blanket and the bear made her warm and comfortable last night. She’d slept soundly for the first time in weeks. Maybe she was just mentally exhausted. Naga had his datapad out and was looking up the class schedule.

“You need to complete three seminars,” Naga was saying as she focused on her tea. “And you need to meet twice with a benefits counselor, who will help you apply for refugee status and job programs, among other things. And you need to meet once with a therapist.”

Echidna looked up sharply. “A therapist?”

“Yes. To talk through anxieties with a neutral party.” Naga looked up and caught her trepidation. “It’s not bad, I promise. All the Kyurangers went to therapy. It helps a lot.” He smiled and that smile looked so damn natural. How? “Don’t worry about that. Eat your oatmeal before it gets cold.”

Reluctantly, she put down the tea and picked up her spoon.

“How long before you have to leave?” she muttered.

“Not until the end of the week. If we time everything right, we can leave together.” She must have looked confused, because Naga clarified, “Stinger and I are headed back to Earth. That’s where we live. We have a house in the suburbs just outside the city, but there is plenty of housing in the city. And lots of work opportunities.” He shrugged. “Some of the other Ophiuchus refugees moved there too. So they’d have a support network. You don’t have to connect with them, but I thought you might want to be near someone you know. At least at first.”

She’d honestly never considered anything of the sort until that very moment, but she had to admit that Naga was right. She’d been prepared to hate him until she died, but she didn’t really hate him. And he was doing all _this_ for her. He probably checked in with the other Ophiuchus refugees, but was he trying to help them navigate the classes? Probably not. Ophichuians… they were rule-followers. Even exiled, if someone in authority told them they needed to complete classes, they probably went to the classes. Had Echidna been the only one who couldn’t face _this_ and tried to stay in her room? She wanted to ask, but also didn’t want to find out she’d been the only one with that kind of trouble.

“Okay,” she finally said softly.

“Good,” Naga replied. “I’m glad. I think you’ll like it there.”

And she had no idea why she blurted the next question, but she asked, “Do you and Stinger have sex?”

Naga looked faintly puzzled by the question, but not taken aback. “Yes. Why?”

“Is it good?”

“You mean, is it pleasurable? Yes. Echidna, why are you asking?”

“I’ve never had sex,” she mumbled. “I am… I _was_ … an Enforcer. We weren’t allowed to court or marry anyone. And I’m an aberration on top of that, so I wouldn’t have been allowed anyways.”

“You’re fully female.” Not a question. Naga knew what aberration meant. Their species were largely male and female, but each still retained reproductive organs of the other. Meaning a male could carry a baby and give birth, while a female could sire a child. Very rarely were children born that were fully male or female, and those that were could not participate in courting or marriage. Can’t risk passing along imperfect genes. That was probably why she’d been chosen as an Enforcer. But not necessarily.

“Okay,” Naga said after a long pause. “You can do whatever you want out here. If you want to go out and have lots of sex, you can.” He continued, “Although be careful with that, and please go get an implant from the infirmary before we leave here.”

“How do you find someone to have sex with?”

“Casual sex? I think most people just go to a club or a bar.”

She frowned. “Clubs are too loud.”

“I can point you to some quiet bars back home where you’ll likely get the same results.”

“Can I find someone here to have sex with?”

“Probably. But implant first. I’m not kidding. We’ll do that after breakfast.”

Most humanoid species seemed to enjoy having sex, and she knew none of the social niceties around something like that. She figured they probably didn’t matter.

\-----------------

Turns out she was right. Someone in one of her classes was more than willing to have sex with her. Naga gave her a talk about consent while she was in the infirmary getting the implant. The only person he’d been with was Stinger. (He’d not even fooled around with Balance, that damn mechanical who stole him away from the Ophiuchus System in the first place. He still said Balance was his best friend, but nothing more. She still had questions.) He admitted that he didn’t really care for hook-up culture, that wasn’t something that appealed to him, but other people enjoyed that sort of thing. And she needed to figure out what appealed to her. She could always change her mind, he said.

Consent seemed to be the most important thing he wanted her to understand. _She_ was in control of her own body and she got to say what she did or didn’t want to do. She could change her mind in the middle. Anyone who tried to pressure her into something she wasn’t comfortable with… well, Naga had some choice words about people like that, and said she should walk away from them. If they wouldn’t leave her alone, her skills from being an Enforcer would ensure they didn’t mess with her.

Hiro seemed to understand that she wanted to try things and didn’t understand the emotions involved to really get attached. That was fine with him. He was from a planet in the Southern Cross System that had been decimated during the final Jark Matter sieges. Evacuating the planet took time and he was a first responder that stayed until the last ships went out. He was gentle and loving, and definitely showed her what they could do for _her_ pleasure. She was in awe. She had no idea her body could feel that way. Why had the Ophiuchus System banned this except between married couples? Did married couples feel this good back on her old planet? They didn’t have emotions to get attached, but still.

Always in his room. Never hers. She didn’t want him in her bed, near her things. Her blanket and her bear and, hell, her entire room, had become special to her very quickly. That was _her_ space. She didn’t quite understand the possessiveness around a place she had disliked only days ago. Naga said that was normal. He took a little longer to feel that way, but when he and Balance became Kyurangers and got rooms on the Orion, he felt that too. The first space that was really _his_. She also didn’t really understand why she was okay with Naga in her space, but no one else. Maybe she trusted him.

At the end of the week, when she packed her things and left the facility on a transport with Naga, she expected to feel sad about not seeing Hiro again, but strangely found herself relieved. She wasn’t sure how to have an intimate partner in her life long-term, although she guessed that she’d be able to figure something out. But navigating those _emotions_ and compromises… seemed more efficient to find someone, have sex and then part ways.

“Which job assignment did you take?” Naga asked as the transport got closer to Earth.

“The highest-paying one.”

“Which was?”

“Researcher for a law firm that helps oversee intergalactic deals.”

“Really?” Naga sounded impressed.

She shrugged. “They paid me a small fee to do a sample assignment. Gave me twenty-four hours, I did it two. They said I got twice as much information as someone else would in one day. And that was using the crappy, locked down network at the facility.”

Naga smiled, shaking his head. “I told you that you could do anything.”

“They said I can work from home. The benefits lady helped me find an apartment.”

“You signed the lease?”

“The company gave me a starting bonus, so yes.”

“Order furniture yet?”

“No. I wasn’t sure what to order.”

“Well, get your datapad out. I can help you with that. Then you won’t have to sleep on the floor.”

Naga knew too well there was no way she was going to crash at his house, however much he insisted things were fine. Stinger had just gone off to the cryo-freeze reintegration Rebellion planet in the Carina System. Some relative or other of his had been a Jark Matter governor and got caught, put into cryo-freeze, and had been woken up for processing. Naga had been vague on the details, probably because the whole situation was personal for Stinger. She didn’t see why. Stinger hadn’t done those things. His relative did. That didn’t make him guilty.

“You need a bed, and a desk to start…”

She wasn’t really listening to Naga, just let him pick out the furniture. She didn’t care. None of that mattered. She just wanted her own space.

The timing worked out for her to get into the apartment once they landed. The building managers only need her thumbprint to code the locks and said she could add more security if she wanted. Naga went with her and seemed impressed by the apartment. Really, one bedroom and one bathroom, but hardwood floors, exposed brick on some of the walls, tiny but functional kitchen, large bathroom with a shower stall and a tub.

“I think you’re going to be okay,” Naga commented.

He made sure she had his cell phone number and Stinger’s, and added her to the distribution list the other Ophiuchus refugees in the area kept up. They organized activities sometimes and she was invited. He also wryly pointed out a few bars in the area if she wanted to explore those. And told her she was invited for dinner.

She nodded, but really wanted to be alone.

\-----------------

_Three Years Later_

She fucked up. She’d fucked up really badly. She should have said no, should have left this damn hotel room the minute things went someplace that made her uncomfortable. The stupid part? Very little made her uncomfortable. She had all kinds of sex and hook-ups—men, women, alien people who couldn’t really fit into either category, threesomes, some light bondage, toys, kink… she was up for just about anything. She just didn’t want people’s numbers and barely wanted their names. She’d go to a dark, smoky bar, have a few shots and see who was available that night.

_Fuck_. She _hurt_.

Echidna wasn’t stupid and she’d been with enough people to know about this stupid cream on the market that, if applied to certain body parts, would make a person hornier than before and not want to stop until they’d been sufficiently fucked. She wasn’t interested. That kind of stuff was for people who couldn’t get off themselves and she had no problem with that, thank you.

The night started like usual. She’d gone to her usual bar and Hana, the bartender, poured her usual drink the moment she sat down. A very attractive woman at a table in the corner caught her eye and she knew how to make eye contact to get a reaction. (But yet, going to a normal place to interact with people, like a restaurant, gave her anxiety attacks, so she didn’t. She just ordered the complete nutrition shakes and didn’t really bother with food unless someone who wasn’t her got room service. And she normally let the other person get the room and she sent them her share.)

One thing led to another, and they were in a hotel. She’d been to this one before, a few months ago. Cheesy, gaudy, meant for hook-ups, but who cared? Functional, right? They’d been naked and having some fun, not the main act yet, when her partner pulled out that damn cream and got the stuff applied just right before Echidna really knew what was happening. She should have walked out of that room that moment, gone home to her vibrator and dealt with things. But no… one too many drinks and the stupid effects and she just agreed to whatever. Even when whatever turned out to be a strap-on that was almost in the category of comically large.

_“I won’t hurt you.”_

Sure, nothing seemed to be permanently damaged, other than the fact that she was going to hurt for a week and hated everything, but especially herself. Her partner was gone, had been gone when she woke up, and check out was coming up in an hour. Practically limping, she got herself to the bathroom and found the med kit, downing some painkillers. A tear rolled down her cheek, followed by another. Her hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t summon a transport and this hotel was too far to walk home, plus she wouldn’t be able to walk that far right now.

A sob bubbled up as her shaking fingers let her do one thing—hit her emergency contact button.

_Fucking hell_ , Naga had a _baby_ three months ago. He didn’t need her drama on top of everything else. But she had no one else to call.

He picked up on the first ring. “Echidna?” he asked, voice concerned.

She started crying.

“What’s wrong? Where are you? I’ll come get you,” Naga said quickly.

She gave him the name of the hotel and cried, “I want to go home.”

“I’ll pick you up. Don’t worry. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“What about the baby?”

“Stinger is still on paternity leave too. He’ll be with Mika.”

He promised to be there soon again and hung up.

Echidna let herself cry for a few more moments, before making sure she was completely dressed and attempted to wash her face. She grabbed her sunglasses from her purse, checked out of the room via the hotel’s datapad, and went outside to wait for Naga. She lowered herself to the curb, wanted the ground to swallow her up.

Just like he said, Naga pulled his car to the curb exactly ten minutes later. She hurried into the passenger seat and shut the door, relieved to be someplace relatively private. Naga’s brow was furrowed in worry. “Do you need to go to the hospital?” he asked seriously.

“No.”

“Are you sure? Echidna, you’re still crying.”

“I don’t need the hospital,” she snapped, and then softened with, “I just want to go home.”

“Okay,” Naga agreed, although she could tell he didn’t like her decision. He pulled the car away from the curb and into the street. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“No,” she replied, trying to control her tears. She felt the shame and guilt acutely. Naga was fully dressed—jeans, t-shirt, cardigan style sweater, no baby spit-up for once. However, he was still drawn and pale, dark circles under his eyes. Some of that was caring for an infant, Echidna knew, but the other part was that healing from a birth took Ophiuchus males much longer than females. There was a reason males were not often required to carry children. Normally, the healing process was about six weeks, but males took closer to three months, sometimes four. Naga knew all the risks, but he and Stinger wanted to start a family. Still, she wasn’t being fair to Naga by asking this of him, so she said softly, “I’m sorry. I just… shouldn’t have said yes to any of this.” She sighed. “But I did.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I just want you to be okay.”

“I think I will be. After a shower and some sleep.” Echidna really didn’t want to talk about her bad decision, so she distracted Naga with, “How’s the baby?”

He smiled. “Great. She’s growing too fast. Already holding up her own head and smiling.” He shook his head. “I can show you some pictures when we get to your apartment.”

She saw tons of pictures of his daughter on his socialweb account, but didn’t say anything. Naga was extremely proud of his baby, in spite of all the discomfort and pain he went through to bring her into the world. She didn’t quit understand why he made that sacrifice. “She’s your little scorpion baby,” Echidna commented absently.

“Yes,” Naga agreed. “She has my eyes, but other than that, she’s Stinger’s clone.”

“Stinger’s brother moved out, right?”

Naga gave her a sidelong glance as he pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. “Echidna, he moved out four months ago, before Mika was born. You know that.”

“Just trying to make conversation,” she mumbled. He parked and she got out of the park, but then noticed he was following her. “What are you doing?”

Naga blinked. “Walking you up to your apartment and making sure you eat something.”

“I have shakes.”

He held up a bag. “Eggroll bowls and turkey soup.”

“Why do you always try to feed me?”

“Because you like actual food, but refuse to figure it out.”

She didn’t respond, just rolled her eyes and led Naga into the building. The place was six stories tall and she was in the top corner. They were silent on the lift ride up, and she let them into the apartment. Naga set the bag on the table as she walked into her bedroom, calling, “I’m going to take a shower.”

She’d stopped shaking so much, but she still hurt. The shower felt good, but she wanted more painkillers and to go to sleep. She just dressed in some jersey lounge pants and a stupid oversized t-shirt from those of those dumb fun runs Naga and the other Ophiuchus people had talked her into doing. Naga had warmed up a bowl of soup at the table for her. “Try to eat a little,” he said.

Sitting at the table, she asked, “Why did you come get me?”

“Because you’re my friend and that’s what friends do for each other.” He sat down near her. “You came to see me in the hospital after Mika had been born, even though I know you didn’t want to. And you brought her a teddy bear.”

“I like mine,” Echidna mumbled. “I thought she might like one.”

“She does. And you came to visit a few times and helped heat up food.”

“I didn’t hold the baby.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to hold her. You don’t like babies.” He shook his head. “You didn’t want to come, but you did anyways. Because we’re friends.”

“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dying.”

Naga shook his head again. “Eat your soup. Where is your med kit? I’ll get you some painkillers.”

She told him where to find the med kit and picked up her spoon, trying to eat some soup. _Damn_ , this stuff was amazing. Stinger would make a huge pot of the stuff at once and freeze portions. She hoped Naga left a few portions in the freezer. He came back with the pills, and said, “Extra soup and the egg roll bowls are in your freezer. I think you know how to reheat them.”

Taking the pills, she nodded.

They were quiet as she ate the soup.

Once the food was gone, she was suddenly exhausted. She got up, and Naga just followed her into the bedroom. He closed the curtains as she got into bed, grabbing her purple fuzzy blanket and her bear. She got under the covers, holding her bear to her chest. Naga started to leave, but she reached out, taking his wrist. She felt too vulnerable and weak, but asked anyways, “Will you stay until I fall asleep?”

“Yes,” he said gently, sitting on the edge of her bed. “I’ll come by tomorrow to check on you.”

“Okay.”

With Naga there, and her bear, she felt warm and safe and fell asleep quicker than she would have thought.

She _did_ have a friend, someone who cared about her.

She just had to remember that.


	2. History Has Its Eyes on You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpio's backstory.

**2/ History Has Its Eyes on You**

_I made every mistake and felt the shame rise in me…_

“Scorpio, can you hear me?”

The light was blinding, everything gone white, and Scorpio kept his eyes screwed shut. He couldn’t remember where he had been or what he had been doing. What was this place? And why was he so damn _cold_? He shivered violently, the light still overwhelming and too much. Think, he had to think. Where had he been? How did he get here?

“Yes,” he finally ground out, teeth chattering.

Someone stood over his, forcing one eye open, blinding him with a yellow light.

“He’s awake.”

Thankfully, they left him alone after that.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” the first voice asked.

He tried to think. What was the last thing he remembered? “I was with my militia squad,” he said haltingly, teeth still chattering too much to speak well. “A Jark Matter regiment was attacking one of the larger towns and we had gone to join the local guards as reinforcements. A lot of people were taken prisoner by Jark Matter.”

Then he realized, _this_ could be Jark Matter! What had they done to him? _Shit_ , he’d left Stinger back at their village with the rest of the militia. If Jark Matter had taken down this town, then their village and several others were next! He had to get out of here, he had to warn Stinger, their village… everyone they cared about!

“His blood pressure is rising.”

“Scorpio, listen to me very carefully. What you just described happened nearly four years ago. You went into cryo-freeze two and a half years ago.”

“Wh-what?”

“This is a Rebellion cryo-freeze integration facility.”

“I don’t understand. You’re Jark Matter!”

“No.” The voice was firm, yet sympathetic. “Your memory will return slowly, but you are not remembering the last eighteen months before you went into cryo-freeze. You joined Jark Matter, became an assassin for them. Your brother is a Kyuranger. He brought you in.”

“Stinger is a Kyuranger?”

For some reason, he wholly believed that Stinger was a Kyuranger. His baby brother, always so much more compassionate and kinder than he could ever hope to be. They’d lost their parents when Stinger was young—he barely remembered them. Scorpio didn’t blame his parents for either of their untimely deaths. Disease, injury, no technological infrastructure, limited communications, all kinds of things contributed to people dying too soon. Their mother fell victim to an epidemic when Stinger was three. Their father was murdered by a band of desert marauders when Stinger was five. A five-year-old being raised by a seventeen-year-old. Scorpio had to scramble hard for money and resources. Their parents left them some money, but not enough. He sometimes wondered if that was why he was so bitter, unable to see the joy in much of anything, while Stinger would happily point out flowers or water. Stinger had been such a sensitive kid, cried at anything, and some of the warriors in their village decided to toughen him up. Scorpio wasn’t proud of his actions that day, but no one messed with his younger brother ever again.

And yet, Stinger grew up well, graduated from school with top grades and decided to join the militia, just like Scorpio. He hadn’t really wanted him to. The community college in the largest city on their planet had free tuition, room and board for residents of the planet, and Stinger had good enough grades to apply for (and probably get) a scholarship to a private university on one of the other Scorpius System planets. But Stinger had said university would be there. Jark Matter was encroaching on their planet now, and the militia needed all the help they could get.

Always wanted to help others, in spite of the way he’d been treated as a young kid? Fierce warrior, probably better than Scorpio? Yeah, his baby brother was Kyuranger material. He felt a tingle of pride that Stinger had been chosen by the universe to be one of the nine saviors. They’d grown up with the legends, knew that Scorpius was among them, sometimes idly wondered who might chosen, but none of them really knew. Turned out that was Stinger.

He wasn’t sure why, but he’d never told Stinger how much their parents wanted more children. Scorpio was their first, and they’d tried for so many years after him to have others. He wasn’t sure when he realized how heartbreaking that was for their parents. Nothing he could do but try to understand how sad that fact made them, seeing other large families and them just with Scorpio. Not that they didn’t love him—his parents loved both him and Stinger dearly. He remembered being eleven when his mother found out she was expecting Stinger. Both his parents were thrilled. _Finally_ , a second child. He’d been twelve when Stinger was born, feeling this huge responsibility for a tiny baby who couldn’t defend himself. Gods, Stinger had been a cute kid. Scorpio took after their father, but Stinger took after their mother.

What he did not believe about any of this was that he joined Jark Matter.

“The thawing process is hard on the body,” the voice continued. “I am going to have you moved to a hospital room until your vital signs stabilized, then you will be given a regular room here. A case worker will explain the routine and expectations when you are ready.”

He felt himself being wheeled away somewhere.

He still couldn’t really see.

The Jark Matter piece wasn’t true, right?

\----------------

Later, the nurse told him that he was screaming for his brother in his sleep. He’d had this _dream_ where he had landed with a Jark Matter regiment near their village, and walked to the militia encampment on the outskirts. He’d told the Jark Matter troops to attack on his signal. Stinger had been sitting around the fire with some of the others, and looked delighted to see him. He’d been singing an old song of their planet, all about the pride of Scorpius living on, their strength as scorpion warriors. He wanted to grab his baby brother and hold him close, tell him everything would be all right, but they needed to run because Jark Matter was outside. They’d lose the village, but at least the people would be safe.

But no, the Jark Matter troops attacked anyways, and he could see the hurt and betrayal on Stinger’s face as he screamed, _“Aniki, what’s wrong?!”_ Stinger thought this was just a temporary lapse, but he was so wrong. Scorpio wanted to surrender, wanted to tell Stinger to bring him in, but instead he was fighting off the warriors, raising a blade against them.

He had a sinking feeling that was not a dream, but a memory.

When his vitals finally stabilized their liking (he didn’t know what that meant, just knew that he was no longer cold all the time and could stay awake for more than a few minutes), a case worker came into his room. She looked tired, but friendly, wearing casual clothes and carrying a datapad. She confirmed a few of his personal details first—name, date of birth, and a few other things. “My name is Nanako,” she said. “I’m the case worker assigned to you while you’re here. Most patients are here around six months.”

“What happens in those six months?” he asked softly.

“You’ll establish a routine, and that includes physical therapy and then an exercise regime of your choice, regular sessions with a psychiatrist, debriefing with Rebellion officers, regular work shifts, group therapy and training programs when you get closer to the next part of the program.”

“Program?”

“You’ve been in cryo-freeze for two and a half years. Your memories aren’t completely back. In some cases, they don’t come back at all. Plus your muscles atrophied during the freeze. You’ll need time to build up your strength.”

“Why do I need to talk to Rebellion officers?”

“Because if your memories come back, you might remember something that will help them dismantle a Jark Matter pocket somewhere in the universe. They defeated Don Armage six months ago. But there’s still plenty of governors out there, trying to retain power.”

“Was I arrested?”

“Technically yes. You were a Jark Matter assassin and then a Chief Retainer. But once we started studying tox panels on the cryo-frozen subjects, we realized that some governors and Chief Retainers did not join Jark Matter of their own will. They were drugged with dark planesium and continually kept under the influence. The doctor thinks your natural venom contributed.” She let out a breath. “You were essentially brainwashed. This program is to ensure you are completely detoxed and ready to return to society.”

Scorpio sighed, looking away. The only thing to surface so far was the dreams, and he hoped they weren’t real. But knew they were. He desperately wanted to see his baby brother, but he knew, after everything that had happened, there was no way that Stinger would ever agree to speak to him. He really didn’t blame him, and he didn’t even remember most of what went on for a year and a half before Stinger caught him. He didn’t really want to remember. And as much as he wanted to see Stinger, he also didn’t want to face him.

“Can I ask that you don’t contact my brother?”

Nanako looked sympathetic when she said, “Unfortunately, he was listed as your emergency contact before Jark Matter took you. He’s already been notified that you’re here and went through the unfreezing process.”

He swore softly.

“It’s really going to be okay. Most family members I’ve seen are just relieved to hear their loved one is okay and detoxing.”

Scorpio fought the urge to roll his eyes at the qualifier.

“Do you feel up to walking?” she asked. “I’ll show you to your room, and then in the morning I can take you to breakfast, show you the facility, the routine.”

He nodded, and got out of bed slowly, still shaking a little. He hardly recognized himself when he looked in the mirror. His hair had been cut short, he’d lost weight, he was pale with dark circles under his eyes. He looked like a goddamn ghost. He hoped this was not a long walk to his room, because he could hardly walk the corridor without shaking and sweating bullets. He didn’t feel much like talking, but Nanako kept up the friendly chatter, talking about the facility, the doctors and nurses who treated him, how this whole place was dedicated to cryo-unfreezing and a lot of star systems were coming to them now. He didn’t want to believe he’d joined Jark Matter, but there was no other reason that he would have been in cryo-freeze for two and a half years.

They went to a lift and descended a few floors.

“This is the habitat wing,” she explained. “Fifty patients are here at any given time. Each room is a standard single room with a private bathroom. Common rooms are at the mid-point of the hall and at the end.” This strongly reminded him of the college dorm that he’d made Stinger tour. “There is a canteen on the first floor. You can earn a small salary from your work assignments here, and family can put money on your account. Otherwise, there are three meals a day and you can go back through the line for seconds.” Scorpio hadn’t actually felt hungry, couldn’t remember eating food since waking up, but nodded and filed away the information. Not like he would have anyone putting money on his account.

He wanted to ask what happened after this facility, but was afraid to.

Nanako opened the door to a room close to the end of the corridor. “This is you,” she explained. “Locks are biometric, so you can get in with a thumbprint. Staff can also override the lock if needed.” She added, “And your room can be searched at any time for any reason, so please don’t try to hide any contraband.”

He had no idea what was considered contraband, but figured he’d learn in the morning.

Nanako explained that he had a few sets of clothes and a laundry bag. Laundry was picked up on Monday and Thursday. Clean clothes were returned on those days and dirty ones were picked up. (He assumed one of the jobs here was doing all that laundry.) He also had two sets of sheets and two blankets and could send bedding with his laundry. No shoes, just a pair of slip-ons. The bathroom had standard toiletries, but no razors or anything he could hurt himself with. She said that family could bring extra clothes or bedding, even a datapad or phone (but tech devices had to be locked down by a supervisor and would not be unlocked until release from his program.) A small clock was on the wall over the door.

“Breakfast is at seven-thirty,” Nanako said. “I’ll see you then.”

Scorpio glanced at the clock. Already after ten in the evening. That short walked had exhausted him, made him sweat through his shirt. He took inventory of the clothing. Seven full sets of clothes, along with some extra shorts and two sets of pajamas. He shivered again and saw a hoodie amongst the clothing. Good. He hoped this planet didn’t get too cold, but he guessed they would have provided warmer clothing if that were the case.

Nothing better to do. He took a shower and went to bed, not expecting to fall asleep quickly, but was out the moment his head touched the pillow.

\-----------------

These dreams were… different. He felt different. Like something was coursing through his veins, making him stronger, whispering to him that he needed to obtain and keep power. His foolish younger brother was a Kyuranger. How had the universe made that weak crybaby a Kyuranger? And he’d been chasing him for so long, time to give the baby what he wanted—time to lie to his face and make him think he was infiltrating Jark Matter to take down Don Armage, get the intel he needed and then get rid of the annoying brat once and for all.

Scorpio knew he didn’t want to do any of that. Not at all.

But yet he was leading Stinger on, and Stinger so desperately wanted to believe that he was doing all this to take Jark Matter down from the inside. His beloved older brother would never have betrayed their people without a reason, would never have joined Jark Mater without some end goal in mind. He wanted him to be strong and loyal and making those terrible sacrifices for a reason. _Scorpio_ wanted to be making those choices for a reason.

Would he have joined Jark Matter and attacked their people just to go undercover and try to take down Don Armage? Seemed like a foolish plan with little change of success. He knew what happened to prisoners of war. He would have known he was resigned to a work camp or death. Even if he felt bitter about life and their village, he didn’t want these people to be _dead_. No one deserved that.

And there was Stinger, with his robot friend. The robot was telling Stinger not to trust him and Scorpio wanted to scream that he should listen to the robot! He’d killed the robot’s maker because he defected from Jark Matter! The robot was right! Stinger needed to stop being naïve!

And then they were fighting and Stinger was… asking him to kill him?

No, he would never hurt his baby brother! Stinger was all he had left!

“Stinger!”

“Aniki!” Someone was shaking him awake. “Aniki, wake up! It’s just a dream.”

He opened his eyes, wildly glancing around the room. Stinger was standing over his bed, hands on his shoulders. Wait. This wasn’t right. Stinger wasn’t here. He wasn’t coming.

The clock read six-thirty in the morning.

“You’re… here?” he asked hoarsely.

“Yes,” Stinger replied. “I got here as soon as they told me you’d been moved to a room.”

“Why?”

Stinger smiled. “Because you’re my brother.” He motioned to some bags on the floor. “I would have gotten here last night, but Naga suggested I stop off at home and pick up some of your things from storage, and then I needed to go shopping. There’s a twenty-four-hour big box store here that helped with that. And I wasn’t sure how much money to put on your account, so I looked at the prices of things and just guessed. I can put more if you need it.”

Scorpio slowly sat up.

“I’m really glad you’re okay,” Stinger said softly.

_Gods_ , his baby brother had grown up. His hair was still a little long, enough to fall into his eyes, but he’d lost some of the rounded baby face, replaced with hard lines and more muscle. He wasn’t quite dressed like people from their planet anymore, but he was wearing straight-leg jeans, a Henley and a hand-knitted brown sweater, with a subtle orange and silver scarf. The traditional bead and feather were gone from his hair, and he had a leather bracelet on his wrist. Scorpio noticed the bracelet sometimes hid a tiny tattoo that he couldn’t quite make out right now.

Stinger had thrown so much information at him that he just asked, “Naga?”

“My fiancée,” Stinger clarified. “We’re getting married in three months and I already asked if I could get permission for you to be there.” Stinger looked at him. “He’s looking forward to meeting you.”

“Why?”

“Look,” Stinger sat down in the desk chair. “Knowing what I know now about what was done to you… you couldn’t have stopped yourself. No one could. Even at the end, you seemed to snap out of things. You took on Antares for me, saved me…”

“I don’t remember,” Scorpio said softly.

“The doctor said the last thing you remember is leaving with the militia to go to Thread.”

He nodded and rubbed his temple. “I keep having dreams, but I don’t know what’s a dream and what actually happened.”

Stinger reached out and squeezed his wrist. “It will take time. Just remember I don’t blame you and I’m going to help you.”

Scorpio tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “Stinger,” he said haltingly. “These _things_ I do remember are fucking terrible. I don’t know what I did to you, but what I think happened… you should not be here. You should not forgive me. I don’t deserve it.”

“They drugged you and brainwashed you.”

“I wouldn’t…”

Stinger looked sympathetic. “There’s a lot of thing we think we won’t do, and then someone figures out how to force you.” He shrugged. “Jark Matter had an entire planet dedicated to brainwashing young people. They did it through subliminal noises on that planet. What they did to you was much worse.”

“Stinger,” he said slowly. “I had this dream where you tracked me down and I told you I was trying to take Jark Matter down from the inside, but that was a lie and… I hurt someone close to you.”

His younger brother sighed. “How much of the truth do you want?”

“All of it.”

“Those things _did_ happen. And I was… at the end of my rope when I realized everything you said was a lie. You’re my big brother, I looked up to you, didn’t want to believe you’d betray us. Champ told me I was being naïve, but I didn’t care.”

_Champ_. That was the robot, Scorpio somehow knew.

“I did ask you to kill me. Because you were all I had left and you were gone. I didn’t want to be alone.” He sighed. “But Champ pushed me out of the way, took the hit for me. Forced me to remember that I’m not alone.”

Scorpio blinked back guilty tears. “And Champ is…”

Stinger smiled. “He’s fine. Still extremely annoying, but he’s my closest friend. Rebellion has some of the best robotics engineers in the world. They pieced him back together, managed to restore his memory from literal fragments of hard drives.” Another sigh. “I ended up in intense therapy for a while there, trying to sort through things. I still did some stupid stuff though. The other Kyurangers tried to stop me and Naga ended up getting stabbed.”

“I did that?”

A nod, “But he is also fine. And doesn’t have any ill will.” Stinger shook his head. “I’ve told him a lot of stories from when I was a kid. He’s actually looking forward to meeting you. As is Champ.”

“Why?”

But Stinger brushed aside the question and reached for one of the bags he brought. That’s when Scorpio fully focused and realized Stinger had four bulging bags. He couldn’t really fathom what any of those items were. “The administrator said I can go to breakfast with you and walk around with you and your case worker for the orientation. I’ll be here for a few days until you get settled, and then I’ll be back every two or three weeks.” He smiled ruefully. “This system is far away, but the Supreme Commander is giving me flexibility. And if I’m on a mission, you can always call Naga or Champ if you need something.”

The first bag had bedding—two quilts and an afghan. Scorpio recognized the first quilt—a log cabin quilt his parents had made for him as a child. The quilt was worn, but well cared for. He pushed the blankets off himself and swung his feet onto the floor. He ran his fingers over the quilt. “Where did you find this?” he asked softly. “The village was destroyed.”

“You might not have thought about putting things in storage, but I did,” Stinger replied. “I sent most of the things our parents made, all the family stuff, to an off-planet storage facility. I’m glad I did. Then Naga and I emptied the facility and brought everything to our house on Earth. I had your things in storage at the house.”

The second quilt was new—Pandora’s box, black, purple and navy blue. “I made you this one,” Stinger explained. “Once I knew they were working on a treatment and you’d be out of cryo-freeze eventually.” Stinger had also made the blue and green striped afghan.

The second bag had clothes—a combination of new things Stinger had purchased, plus some of his old clothing before Jark Matter. Heavy on the lounge wear, and Stinger had clearly made some of the pieces. “Once we moved to Earth, I actually got a sewing machine,” Stinger continued. “And I just used my measurements for the clothes. I figured that would work.” Most things were sewn by hand in their village, and the few people that had a machine shared with others. Scorpio could tell the quilt had been handstitched. He rubbed his eyes, trying not to cry.

Third bag was a random assortment of things Stinger had decided he needed (that also fell under what they could and could not have in their rooms.) Better toiletries, a plastic set that included a plate, bowl and a spork, a wall hanging, his plush from childhood, a dream catcher, two small storage bins, some shower shoes, and a seashell sculpture. “Naga makes those,” Stinger explained. “We went on a mission to the Vela System a long time ago and it’s something he picked up there.” The final bag contained a datapad, charging station and a cell phone. “I know you can only call certain people or access certain content, but I want you to be able to reach us. And I put you as a user on my accounts, so you can get music, books, shows, games, whatever you want. There’s this really dumb cupcake games that Naga showed me that I really like.”

Scorpio knew he was sitting there, overwhelmed, not sure what to do.

“We can put all this away after breakfast,” Stinger said. “I know this is a lot.”

That was an understatement.

\----------------

“The doctor said you haven’t been eating as much lately.”

Scorpio turned, relaxing a little as Stinger came into his room. Nearly six months since he woke up here. He’d been able to leave for a day to see Stinger’s wedding, and Stinger had been so hyper-conscious of the restrictions he had there was no alcohol at the wedding. But no one questioned that and everyone seemed to have a good time. Stinger and Naga had a chef friend who was a Kyuranger and the food was delicious. So much better than anything in this place. Even the canteen food was all processed and junky and nothing Scorpio really liked.

“I’m just tired of the choices here.”

“I know.” Stinger sat down on his bed, setting a bag next to him. “I brought some egg roll bowls that Naga made and some sweet bread.”

“Thank you.”

“What’s wrong?”

Never could get anything past his baby brother. “Doctor says I’m almost ready to leave here.”

“Shouldn’t that be a good thing?”

He shrugged. “Have to go to a halfway house.”

“Or you come live with me and Naga.”

“I can’t do that.”

Stinger didn’t seem frustrated, just calmly asked, “Why not?”

“Even if I go to the halfway house, you still have to basically supervise everything—my money, where I work, where I go, and I can only get certain kinds of jobs and can’t get promotions for six months. Have to prove I’m a loyal worker.” He sighed. “And those are not the kind of jobs that make a good wage.”

“Aniki,” Stinger said softly. “I’ve seen the statistics on people who go to the halfway houses and they’re not good. It’s recommended you stay with family for a year after leaving here, and that’s because their studies show those people do better with a support system.” He paused and added, “Plus there’s lots of places you could work within walking distance of our house, but even more if you want to take public transport or let us get you a car.”

“I don’t want to put you out.”

“You’re not. We want you to stay with us.” Stinger shook his head. “Do you need me to get Naga to say the same thing?” A pause, and then he softly asked, “Is this because you remember everything?”

“Yes! You shouldn’t want me around!”

“You don’t get to decide that for me.”

“Stinger, I almost killed you and Champ and Naga! I shouldn’t be around any of you!”

“Have you wanted to hurt any of us since you woke up?”

“No, but that’s not the point!”

Scorpio turned away, feeling himself get overwhelmed to the point that he was going to start crying. He hated that about himself now. And he hated that his memories of everything he had done with Jark Matter came back. Of course, he told Rebellion officials the entire story, in excruciating detail, and his information led to a few more cells being taken down, and he wanted to forget, wanted to move forward with his life, but nothing was helping. He couldn’t shake that feeling of guilt and shame, and he ended up breaking down a few times a week. He hardly cried before this. He did what his therapist said, had a routine, worked out, went to work. Stinger hadn’t been able to get permission for him to have knitting needles, but got the okay for crochet hooks. He worked on crocheting, let Stinger take him over to the nearby city… and _nothing_ helped.

“Are you taking your meds?”

“Yes, but they aren’t helping.”

“Have you told your psychiatrist that? She can change the dose.”

“That won’t change anything! I can’t do this, I just…”

And then he was crying again. Gods, he hated this, hated being this weak. Stinger stood up and crossed the tiny room to him, wrapping both arms around him, holding him close. How many times had he comforted Stinger as a child and now the roles were reversed? “Scorpio,” Stinger said softly. “You _can_ do this. You are the strongest person I know. This entire situation sucks. And I know I’m being selfish, but I don’t want you to go off somewhere and disappear. I want you in my life. I want you to be nearby. You’re the only family I have left.” He paused, “And I will go with you to talk to your psychiatrist. I’ll help. I’ll send food. I just don’t want you stuck here longer.”

“Why are you so stubborn?” he mumbled.

“I learned from the best.”

“You’re a brat.”

“I’m younger than you. I think that’s my job.”

But Stinger was smiling and Scorpio took a deep breath, trying to get himself under control. Stinger released him slowly. Nothing seemed like it would be okay, but Scorpio was so tired he was just going to do what was asked of him.

\----------------

_One Year Later_

Scorpio was late getting home from work. Some bad weather was headed into the area the next day and their grocery store had been slammed with customers all day. He’d been placed there as a regular stocker after leaving the facility and going to Earth to stay with Stinger and Naga. After the initial six-month period, he’d gotten promotions quickly from being an inventory specialist to department manager. His boss had even been talking about making him an assistant store manager and soon store co-manager. (They had colleagues going to open a new location and getting promotions, which would leave advancement opportunities at their store.) He usually worked the opening shift from five in the morning until just after one in the afternoon, but the time was nearly six in the evening. All hands on deck. He was exhausted, but knew some overtime pay was coming his way.

Never in his life would he have imagined himself working at a _grocery store_ and thinking about making a career there, yet here he was.

Around five, he’d gotten a message from Stinger, asking if he would be home for dinner. Which Scorpio found a little odd, because he usually did his best to stay out of Stinger’s and Naga’s way, make himself scarce when they were home. Not that he had all that much to do or even really anyone to hang out with, aside from some people from work getting together every so often. (And since he was a manager now, he worked with the other managers to come up with fun things for their employees.) He was already completely inconveniencing his brother and his brother-in-law by being there. He tried to get Stinger to let him pay rent, and his baby brother refused.

_“You know you can eat dinner with us.”_

_“I just don’t want to bother you.”_

_“You’re not bothering us!”_

_“I just… besides, I have to get up early.”_

_“Not that early!”_

The rain had already started when he got in the front door just after six. He slipped off his shoes and then hung up his raincoat. Perhaps the most mortifying thing about all of this was Stinger had to be a co-signer on all his accounts and look through his purchases regularly. Stinger wasn’t especially happy about that level of scrutiny, and even still, Scorpio found himself putting off purchasing anything until he really needed the item. Even something stupid like shoes or a jacket.

“Welcome home!” Stinger yelled from the kitchen. “Dinner is almost ready!”

“I’m back,” he muttered and walked through the front hall. From there, the house split. One side was the kitchen and the dining room. The other side was the living room and master bedroom, and stairs leading to the second floor. Scorpio lived upstairs, tried to keep to himself.

Three places were set at the table, and Naga was finishing laying out silverware. He looked up as Scorpio walked in. “Stinger made lasagna,” he said casually. “Just came out of the oven.”

Scorpio almost made a sarcastic comment about where Stinger learned to cook, but he knew the answer was socialweb videos. Didn’t even learn from the chef friends of theirs. Naga was a decent cook as well. Stinger came out of the kitchen with the pan and put the hot food down on a trivet. Bread and salad were already on the table. And just water glasses were out. No alcohol for at least another six months, and Scorpio really wasn’t inclined to anyways (never even a big drinker before.) Alcohol mixed badly with his meds, even at the much lower dosage. His psychiatrist thought he could be off the meds completely in another six month, which he was looking forward to.

“Sit down,” Stinger said, sitting at the head of the table. Naga sat down next to him, vague smile. Scorpio had never asked how Stinger started dating Naga, or how he even read all his extremely subtle expressions, but he was starting to learn himself. “How was work?” Stinger asked as they started serving themselves.

“Fine,” he said shortly. “People are worried about the storm.”

“I know,” was the reply.

“We’re prepared,” Naga added. “I went to the store yesterday.”

Scorpio knew that, because he’d seen Naga there, let him use his employee discount. Naga was calm and practical, and Scorpio liked that about him.

“One year is up,” Stinger said, changing the subject. “We just wanted to talk to you about your plans. You can always stay here for a while.”

He knew Stinger would offer that, but said carefully, “There’s a duplex available near work. I talked to the landlord and the deposit and rent seem reasonable. I’m going to tour the place in a few days, after the weather clears up.”

“You don’t need me there, but can I go with you?”

“Stinger…”

“I know! I know, I just… want to make sure you’ll be okay.”

Scorpio gave him a level look. “I’m fine, really.” And he relented with, “But you can come along if you want to.”

“You can also take me off all your accounts.”

“I know.”

Stinger looked a little hesitant when he added, “And I know you won’t be moving out for a few weeks, but can you at least eat dinner with us until then? We live in the same house and I feel like I hardly ever see you. I don’t want things to be like that.”

“I want to give you two privacy.”

He was little surprised when _Naga_ replied, “We get plenty of that.”

“And we want you to eat with us.” Gods, his baby brother looked so _earnest_ when he added, “And really, you don’t have to move out so soon. Naga and I talked about it. We’re not going to start trying for a baby for at least another year, and you can pay rent. I just… you’re family, and I want to have you around.”

“It’s not a done deal,” Scorpio replied softly, but he already knew he was going to relent. Stinger had applied for—and gotten—a new Rebellion job assignment about six months ago. He ran the training center and program on Earth, still had the rank of Commander, and a local university had practically given him a degree based on life experience. Stinger was looking at some civilian job options, exploring jobs that would let him work from home or have a flexible schedule. Naga was completely retired from Rebellion and was officially a consultant at a local museum that specialized in antiquities from around the galaxy, although he seemed to do that infrequently and spent more of his time around the house, working on his garden, or checking in with and organizing activities for the Ophiuchus System refugees that had settled on Earth. Their house was nice and they never seemed very concerned about money, so Scorpio strongly suspected someone had a comfortable nest egg socked away somewhere. (Certainly wasn’t him. Even with being as frugal as he was and no rent, he’d only just started to make a good wage.)

“The Ophiuchus group is going to do the harvest fun run,” Naga said after a moment. “Stinger, Balance, Champ and Kotaro will be there too. You should come along. It will be fun.”

“Are you guys dressing up or something?”

Naga shook his head. “We’re not. Balance and Kotaro might. Most of the group is focused on their time, but Balance won’t care about that.”

Scorpio just shook his head. “Some people from work are doing it too.”

“Please do not make me run with Champ and Kotaro alone,” Stinger pleaded.

“Fine, if it makes you two happy.”

After dinner, Scorpio helped clean up the dishes, and then went upstairs to shower and get out of his work uniform. Shortly after that, the solar grid went down due to the weather and Stinger talked him into coming downstairs to play cards by the light of a camp lantern. After a few rounds, Naga kissed Stinger’s temple and said he was going to bed. Scorpio suspected that was a move to give them some time alone and he was right.

“You know,” Stinger said softly. “I’m sorry about everything.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I don’t know. I just… shouldn’t have let you go to Thread that day.”

“You couldn’t have predicted any of that would happen.”

Stinger snorted. “Yeah, logically, I know that. But it doesn’t change how I feel.” He sounded a little choked up when he added, “I just missed you so much and had no idea what to do. When they told me you were a candidate to come out of cryo-freeze, I was so happy. I didn’t think we’d ever get a second chance to be a family, and then we were getting one.”

“Thank you,” he said softly, “for everything you did for me.”

He waved him away. “That was nothing. You were basically coming out of cryo-freeze and going through drug rehab. It was the least I could do.”

“Sorry I never used the canteen money. That food wasn’t that good.”

“Yeah, none of that ever looked appealing.” Stinger shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wanted you to have what everyone else did.”

“You’re a good person. You always were.”

Sometimes he wondered how his little brother grew up so well. Certainly not his influence. He was so devastated by the time their father died, that there was no way he was able to be hopeful about the future. Oh, he was fiercely protective of Stinger, wanted nothing but the best for him. And sometimes he looked at Stinger and he saw the effects of being a Kyuranger, fighting Jark Matter, fighting _him_ for so long. He was tired and that was the reason he stepped away from active duty. And honestly? If anyone deserved to be happy, get a little rest, that was Stinger.

“Aniki?”

“What Stinger?”

When Naga and I eventually have a baby, I want you to be their godfather.”

“Stinger—”

“No, I’m serious. I can’t think of anyone better.”

“I can’t.”

Stinger gave him a long look. “Don’t do that to yourself.”

“Do what?”

“The whole… I’m not worthy thing. It’s bullshit. Just because this whole thing has been a struggled doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a family or friends or a life!”

He was quiet for a moment. His little brother had learned to be stubborn from the best. And he was touched that he wanted him involved in his future child’s life. He deflected with, “It’s been a long time since I took care of a baby.” He paused. “Would I even be allowed to babysit your kid?”

“After the one-year mark, if I give you a good review and your case worker signs off, you can do whatever you want.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just weird to think about that kind of freedom after so much supervision.” He sighed. “Maybe I should stay here for a while. Take things in baby steps.”

“We could use the grill! You grill the best!”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do! I burn things and Naga refuses to try for fear of undercooking the food.”

Scorpio smiled. For the first time in a long time, he wanted to try… being friends with his brother, finding a relationship outside of him being the authority figure and then Stinger being his authority figure. He wanted to get to know Naga better, start going to some of the ridiculous things they did in their spare time, maybe get more involved with the activities at work. Earth was nothing like Needle, but maybe he could make a life here, maybe things would begin to work out after all this time.

Maybe he should take Stinger’s words at face value. Isn’t that what his therapist told him all the time? Don’t second-guess someone. Well, Stinger was offering to let him stay here, wanting to become a family again.

Who was he to question that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! You'll only get one chapter at a time from now on! Updates every few days or once a week ish, depending on how life goes. :) Leave me a comment or a kudo, let me know you're out there and enjoying! :D THANK YOU FOR READING! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!


	3. The Story of Tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echidna walked into the bar. So does Scorpio. (In which, our heroes meet for the first time.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick update this time! I cannot promise all updates will be this quick, but I will try. :) Enjoy!

**3/ The Story of Tonight**

_Let’s have another round tonight._

Echidna walked into the bar. On a Wednesday night, the place was quiet, and she was early enough that anyone looking for action hadn’t arrived yet. That was fine. She just wanted to be alone, hadn’t quite shaken what happened a few weeks ago, and definitely hadn’t had a hook-up since then. The bar was dark, with soft lighting and lots of wood tones. Her regular spot was at the bar, on the corner, well enough away to have a view of everyone else in the place. Perfect for when she was looking for something, but also good for keeping out of the spotlight. Which was exactly what she wanted. She’d considered just ordering some food via drone and staying home, but then the thought of doing the actual ordering filled her with dread. (Naga said those things took time, but after three years, she couldn’t understand why even interacting with an app to get something she wanted was terrifying. The last time she’d needed clothes she’d had to get Naga to actually do the ordering on her datapad.) Plus she wasn’t dressed to attract anyone. Her comfortable jeans, old canvas sneakers, black wrap-around top and a black cardigan. Her hair was purple these days, styled in two French braids. (Naga had taught her how to do that herself.)

She slid onto her regular barstool and Hana, the bartender, immediately poured her regular drink—double whiskey. All alcohol tasted terrible, but she didn’t want to figure out a mixed drink that didn’t sound utterly ridiculous. And this got the job done. She nodded her thanks as Hana moved on to other customers.

She stared into the depths of the glass. Naga wanted her to go see a therapist, but she really just wanted some ice cream. There was an ice cream place she liked, but was scared to go there without Naga. And he was too busy for something so foolish right now. Besides, his baby didn’t even eat solid food yet, so what was the damn point?

Was she just destined to be this fucking mess? All alone in the world.

A man slid onto the barstool two down from her. Not close enough to be interested or a threat, respectable distance. She gave him a sidelong glance. He was about her height, black hair cut shorter, but long enough to have a natural wave. Dark eyes, nice build. Definitely not dressed up—jeans and a navy blue t-shirt, gray jacket. But he had a scorpion tail, black. Huh. She didn’t know how many survivors there were from Stinger’s home planet, but she did know he had said most of them settled in the Sagittarius System, nowhere near here. Oh well, just because he was from the Scorpius System didn’t meant he knew Stinger. The galaxy was a big place.

“What can I get you?” Hana asked him.

“Diet Coke.”

She frowned. Why would he come to a bar only to get soda?

He noticed her frown and said with a smile, “I don’t keep soda at home and I don’t drink.” He ended with a little shrug.

“Then why are you here?” she blurted, and immediately felt herself blush.

He blinked, mulling over his answer, but he wasn’t taken aback. “Great question,” he replied. “I guess I’m celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?” and her flush deepened. _Fucking hell_ , what was wrong with her tonight? Why was she even talking to this guy? She didn’t want to go home with anyone.

“Got a promotion at work,” was the response. He nodded his thanks at Hana as she slid him the glass of soda. “And if I told my brother, he’d want to go celebrate, but he can’t right now because his baby has an ear infection, so he’d just feel guilty about not being able to and having to stay home. But he should stay home, so I’m not telling him until the baby gets better.”

“My friend’s baby gets ear infections all the time too,” she muttered.

“Doesn’t seem like it’s fun for anyone, but I guess that’s what he signed up for.” He gave her an appraising look, before saying, “I’m Scorpio.”

“Echidna,” she muttered.

“You come here often?”

“That is a really stupid line.”

He grinned apologetically. “Sorry, I haven’t done this in a long time.”

“Pick up someone in a bar?”

He laughed a little. “No, talk to someone who isn’t a coworker or family.” He had a great smile, but she imagined he was serious at work. “But, hypothetically, if I was trying to leave here with your number, how am I doing?”

Echidna took a sip of the whiskey and glanced at him. “Not well,” she replied.

He held a hand over his chest. “Ouch,” he replied. He shook his head and his voice was sincere when he added, “I don’t want to bother you. I promise I can be quiet while I have my overpriced soda.”

“You’re not bothering me,” she said and was surprised to find she meant the words. Besides, Naga was so busy with the baby and she was lonely, and all he seemed to want to do was talk. As long as he didn’t mind that she was terrible at small talk and managed to be blushing the entire time, this might not be so bad. “Where do you work?”

He named a grocery store, and clarified, “As of Monday, I am the manager of the store.”

“What does that mean? You’re in charge?”

“Of that store, sure. I still report to the district manager and corporate. But it’s a local chain, so corporate really just means the woman who owns the stores.” He smiled into his glass. “It’s kind of funny, but I grew up on a limited resources planet. I didn’t know what a grocery store was until three years ago. And then I ended up working for one.” He glanced at her. “What do you do?”

She pushed out a breath. How to explain what she did? “I am a researcher for an intergalactic law firm.”

“What kind of research?”

“Whatever they tell me to research, but mostly digging up recent history on constellation systems to help with trade deals.”

“Interesting. So if someone just had a Jark Matter cell dismantled, they might not be in the best position to trade goods?”

“Not necessarily. Sometimes they have a valuable resource that can help stimulate economic growth and help them bring in revenue to establish infrastructure.”

“You analyze all that?”

“I bring the law firm the facts. They make their own conclusions.”

“I was never good at all the galactic economy stuff.” He shrugged. “I just run a grocery store.”

Echidna felt herself smile a little bit. “I’ve never been in a grocery store,” she admitted.

“Oh, it’s great,” he replied with a teasing lilt. “I highly recommend it. Just stay away from the couponers on Thursday morning. That gets intense.”

She frowned, tilting her head to one side in confusion. He explained, “It’s just discount code, other deals, like buy one get one. People find the coupons all over the socialweb and then try to stack them, get the best possible value.”

“That seems logical.”

“It is, until a code doesn’t work. Then they get _mad_.” She smiled a little bit again. He took a drink of his soda and said, “You never know the depths of stupidity until you work retail. We had an old man return some cheese one time. He wouldn’t confirm if he wanted a refund or wanted to exchange the product, he just kept telling us the cheese was bad.” He shrugged. “Our only conclusion was that he wanted us to not sell that cheese anymore.”

“Why would anyone do that?”

“Why does anyone do anything?” He shook his head. “I had to ban someone from the store just today. People are weird.”

“I don’t like to go places like that,” she said softly, but that wasn’t true. She was terrified to go places like that.

“I don’t blame you,” he responded, still smiling. He gave her a long look, before asking, “This might be a long shot, but do you want to leave here? Get something to eat?”

Echidna knew she perked up at that, but then immediately deflated.

Scorpio had watched the expressions and asked simply, “What’s wrong?”

She _never_ told her hook-ups about any of her social anxiety issues, and the fact that she refused to go to a therapist or doctor or anyone to figure them out. She just worked around them. They’d only been talking for a few minutes. There was no reason for her to feel so comfortable with him. She shouldn’t trust him, but she really wanted to trust him. Besides, he had a brother with a baby. She didn’t know why that fact gave him more credibility.

“I…” she searched for the words. “… can’t go to restaurants.” He didn’t ask why, just patiently waited for an answer. “It’s overwhelming and I can’t decide what I want and everyone is watching me and I just can’t do it.”

Echidna was expecting him to tell her that was a ridiculous fear and she needed to get over that. Normal people went places like that all the time. There was no reason to be scared. She’d heard all the reasoning before, because she’d told herself all those reasons. Nothing helped. She could only go to a restaurant with someone else, and the other person had to order. And she’d only ever gone with Naga and he knew what to order for her at the places they went. Her mouth was dry and she suddenly couldn’t remember what she got at any restaurant right now.

“Does it help if someone else orders for you?” he asked gently.

She nodded.

“Would it be okay if I ordered for you?”

“You don’t know what I get.”

He gave her a thoughtful look. “I bet I can guess. Are you vegetarian?” She told him no, and told him no for several other dietary restrictions. He thought for a long moment and asked, “How do you feel about chicken strips and ice cream?”

“I like both,” she whispered.

“There’s an ice cream place near here, Bonnie’s. They have limited food, lots of ice cream. Huge dining room. We could sit far away from other people.”

She blinked.

“You don’t like that place?” he asked.

“No,” she said quickly. “I really do like that place. I just only can go when my friend can go with me and he’s been really busy lately.”

“Your friend with the baby?” She nodded. Scorpio looked sympathetic. “Yeah, babies will keep people on their toes. I love my niece, but _gods_ , she is a handful.” He paused, and then asked, “What do you normally order there?”

She felt stupid admitting, “I can’t remember.”

“Okay,” he replied. “I’m going to find something you like.” He then muttered, “No pressure,” but with a grin.

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you enjoying this?”

“I can’t answer that without sounding like a creep or an ass, but I will just say that I like a challenge and you clearly like that place and you should be able to get something you want.”

Echidna smiled a little, warm feeling spreading through her. They were total strangers, didn’t even know each other, and yet he wasn’t judging her and was trying to make this work for her. Normally, if she was picking someone up, there was no dinner or foreplay, just straight to some place where they could have sex. She’d probably had sex some places she shouldn’t have. She’d never really wanted to _date_ anyone or be in a relationship. That seemed like too much work, plus what was she going to do with the same person hanging around all the time? And yet, Scorpio seemed _kind_.

“Okay,” she said softly.

He smiled. “Great,” and said to Hana, “I’ll get her drink too.” He winked at her. “I did just get a fancy promotion after all.”

\----------------

The ice cream place was also blessedly slow on a midweek night. They’d walked over, the evening nice. Once the sun went down, Echidna knew she’d start shivering, but she was all right with her cardigan for now. He told some stories about work, the more ridiculous customer complaints they’d had, and how the team had started telling people he was the manager (when he wasn’t the manager yet) just because he could deal with the difficult customers. She smiled, feeling more and more secure in her decision to never go into an actual retail store, but Scorpio clearly cared about his job and his coworkers and their regular customers.

They went into the place, Echidna’s heart immediately beating faster. She forced herself to take deep breaths, knowing she was still uncomfortably flushed from the bar. Scorpio led her to a booth in the corner, near the window. He gently reached out and squeezed her wrist. “I’ll be right back,” he said, and then looked concerned. “Are you okay?”

She waved him away a little. “Yes,” she replied tightly. “I’m always like this when I first come into places like this. It will pass.”

He looked worried, but took her at face value. She appreciated that small gesture. He just reiterated that he would be back in a moment and went to the counter to order. She watched from her hunched over position, curled as far into the corner of the booth as she could go. He was so casual with the workers, and Naga always was too. They just smiled and glanced at the menu, asking questions if they needed to, and placed their order quickly. She froze up the moment she was confronted with someone—or an app. She couldn’t force herself to speak, let alone make up her mind and actually tell someone what she wanted. How the hell did they do that so easily? How did anyone do that so easily? He got two bottles of water, and came back over to the booth with them.

“Success,” he said with a grin.

“What do I owe you?” she croaked out.

“Nothing. My treat.”

“But you paid at the bar!” she protested.

“I know, just… let me treat you tonight.” He grinned. “Maybe you can pay next time?”

“Who says there’s going to be a next time?”

“I’m optimistic.”

“You’re something,” she muttered. She felt some of the tension drain from her shoulders, and felt comfortable enough to uncurl a little bit. She still shivered. Damn, why was this place always so cold? Probably had to do with the ice cream.

“Want to borrow my jacket?” he asked.

She almost said no, but then she shivered again, so she just asked, “Are you sure?”

“I run hot.” He slipped off the jacket and did a move where he stood up a little bit and settled the jacket over her shoulders. Echidna allowed herself to snuggle into the warmth a little bit. That was much better. She tugged her wattle bottle over to herself and opened the thing, taking a small sip. Now that his jacket was off, she could see he had some nice definition to his upper arms.

The food was out quickly. Echidna recognized the worker but couldn’t place her name, looking away and shrinking into herself when she approached the table with a tray. She waited, hunched over and tense, until she left. She heard Scorpio thank her and then he said gently, “Echidna? She’s gone now. It’s okay.”

She looked up slowly and met his gaze. He had the good grace not to comment on the fact that her hands were shaking and that had nothing to do with the cold in the restaurant. She looked at the tray. “Chicken strip basket,” he was explaining. “And this is your ice cream,” he pushed a white and pink concoction with strawberries towards her. “Cheesecake ice cream with fudge sauce and strawberries. And this,” he said pointing to the other, “is mine. Chocolate ice cream with peanut butter sauce and candy bar.” He winked. “If you are interested, you can try some.”

Shaking, she grabbed a fry from the basket, nibbling on the salty deliciousness. She so rarely got actual food that she wanted to savor this. She watched as he took the side of ranch dressing and the side of barbeque sauce and mixed them together. He caught her frown and smiled, “This looks disgusting, but trust me, it’s good. My brother and I call it campfire sauce.”

She smiled.

In the end, they split the chicken strips and fries, and she did end up trying some of his ice cream. She didn’t normally eat peanut butter, but paired with the chocolate, the whole thing tasted amazing. She felt really full, but knew that was a side effect of not really eating food often. (The nutritional shakes provided complete nutrition and calories for the day, but she never really felt satisfied after those, just simply not hungry.) She knew this was all junk food, but damn, if the stuff wasn’t absolutely delicious.

“Can I walk you home?” he asked, after they cleared their trash and went outside.

She nodded, smiling a little as she slipped her hand into his. She couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else she’d ever had sex with. Those interactions all seemed transactional, no strings, no emotions, just physical release, and she had been fine with that for so long. Until things got to be too much and she got scared. She noticed he let her lead the way, interested as they came to a stop in front of her building.

“My place isn’t too far from here, neither is the grocery store,” he commented, “And my brother lives about ten minutes _that_ direction,” he gestured north, where Echidna knew there were a couple of subdivisions. She lived in an odd place, almost the dividing line between the city and the suburbs. She could walk anywhere she needed to go or summon a transport, and seemed like Scorpio was pretty much in the same situation. The city also had a fairly good public transportation system.

She never, _never_ , let people come to her apartment, so she shocked herself when she asked, “Do you want to come up for a little bit?”

He gave her searching look. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, but then blurted, “But you have to leave when I tell you to!”

He smiled. “I can do that.”

They were quiet as she led the way into the building and the lift to her apartment, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. She felt warm and content in that moment, still holding his hand. He wasn’t in a hurry to talk, although she knew he could fill a silence if he felt so inclined. She liked that he was able to turn off the noise and just _be_ for a moment. She led him down the hall and to her apartment. Once they stepped inside and she closed the door, he looked around with some interest.

“Now, _this_ is what I expected from you,” he said with a grin. “It’s lovely.”

_Lovely_. Such an odd, antiquated word to use, but she found she liked that word. She’d gotten a little more furniture over the years, now had a couch and an armchair and a screen in the living room. Her desk and computer set up were in the corner of the living room she’d turned into an office. She even had a small table and four chairs (although only two were out.) Her bed was large, and she had a bench at the foot of the bed, along with a chest of drawers and a wardrobe. The one odd thing about this place was the lack of a closet, but she wasn’t complaining.

He got an arm around her waist, drawing her close. She wanted to snuggle into the warmth of his body. She was _always_ cold and he was so damn _warm_. “Can I kiss you?” he asked huskily. She nodded eagerly, not sure if anyone had ever asked permission for that before. Maybe someone early on, but not anymore. Everything was implied now.

One of his arms was around her waist and the other was cupping her cheek. She watched him closely, his eyes darting from her lips to her eyes and back again. His thumb gently traced her cheekbone, tongue coming out just a little to wet his lips, and then he was kissing her, sweet and soft and chaste, and shivers _still_ ran down her spine. Her hands rested on his shoulders. She couldn’t remember the last time someone took this much care with kissing her and she wanted to savor the feeling. He broke the kiss without deepening it, resting his forehead against hers. “This is crazy,” he whispered, “We just met, but I just… like you a lot.”

“Me too,” she said quickly, before closing the small distance between them starting the next kiss. This one was wilder, deeper, and she let him take the lead quickly. _Fuck_ , he tasted so damn good and he was thorough and… she didn’t even really have the words to describe why this simple kiss was turning her into a complete and utter pile of goo in her kitchen. She clutched his shirt, trying to get closer, keeping up, bidding for some dominance herself.

When they broke apart to breathe again, he asked, with a grin, “Want to have sex?”

“Yes,” she snapped curtly, dragging him closer, kissing him again. She felt warm, flush heating her skin, familiar tingles of pleasure running through her body. This was nice, not somebody trying to do something _weird_ or crossing a line. Just a really attractive man who hadn’t actually seemed all that bothered by her idiosyncrasies. (Naga’s husband, Stinger, could not figure out why she was willing to go to a bar and have sex with strangers, but she refused to go to any other restaurant, retail store or other public gathering space. She didn’t really know either, just knew that a bar was either familiar or she was getting something she wanted. She didn’t want things from those other places badly enough to overcome the damned crippling anxiety. Naga just always told Stinger to drop the issue. And he did.)

Scorpio wrapped an arm more firmly around her waist, and she got the hint. He was walking her backwards towards the bedroom, but that was wasting time. Echidna quickly broke the kiss and grabbed his wrist, dragging him into her bedroom. She hadn’t really made the bed that morning, so she just pushed all the covers to one side, sitting down and pulling him close. He smiled, getting one knee on the bed next to her, leaning down and cupping her face to kiss her sweetly. Why, _why_ , were those kisses so good? Because he cared? Wanted to be gentle? The last person to take that kind of care with her had been back in the refugee facility.

She ran a thumb over his cheekbone. “How are you real?”

He laughed, turning and kissing her palm. “You’re going to have to talk to my parents about that one,” he replied easily.

She glowered at him. “You know what I mean. Anyone else would have run away over the whole restaurant thing.”

“Their loss,” was the casual reply. “And that’s not really _that_ weird.” He dropped one hand, rubbing her side a little. “I’ve met people with way weirder hang-ups than that.”

“Like what?”

He was genuinely amused when he asked, “Do you want me to tell you stories about all the weirdos I’ve met over the years? Or do you want to have sex?”

“Sex first,” she decided. “Then I want to know who’s weirder than me.”

“Sounds good.”

He gently slipped his jacket off her shoulders, and then slid his palms under the cardigan, warm hands touching bare skin. Her shiver had nothing to do with being cold. She let the garment drop from her arms and he pushed both aside. Her hands went to the hem of his shirt, running along his abdomen, feeling a flat stomach, slight muscle. How did he stay so fit working at a grocery store? He reached for the neck of his shirt and deposited the thing on the floor.

Another deep bruising kiss and Echidna just said against his lips, “Shoes.”

That _grin_ again. “You don’t want to have sex with shoes on?”

“I mean, I have, but not in my bed.”

He slid off the bed, untied her sneakers and slipped them off. She shivered again. Why was that attractive? He was just taking her damn shoes off! He grabbed her socks too, and the move was not sexy in the slightest, just functional, and she was goddamn _throbbing_ for him. She watched him quickly shed his own shoes and socks. He came back to the bed, hands tracing the wrap around top. He located the tie on one side. Slowly, keeping her gaze the whole time, he undid the bow, letting the top fall open just a little bit. His dark eyes were _fucking_ smoldering, fingers reaching deftly inside to find the other tie, undoing the other bow and letting the top fall open.

She audibly gasped as his fingers came up, pushing the top off her shoulders.

He slowly backed her up, never breaking eye contact, until they were both on the bed completely. He had one leg between hers, one hand resting near her, the other coming up to brush a stray piece of hair away from her face. The next kiss was slow and sweet, and his hand ran down her chest, from her shoulder, over her bra, tracing down her ribs, to her stomach. She’d always thought she was too skinny with not enough cleavage, but he didn’t seem deterred in the slightest, fingers tracing her skin, sending tingles to her stomach, heat pooling between her legs. Maybe she was so turned on because he was completely focused on her?

One hand ran down his chest as his fingers moved back up, pausing at the front clasp bra. Those dark eyes met hers as he whispered, “Can I?”

She nodded eagerly, and those nimble fingers undid the clasp, letting the bra fall open.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured.

She didn’t normally lie down during foreplay, thought that made her breasts almost nonexistent, so she sat up a little, shrugging the bra completely off. He had a hand on her stomach, gently urging her back into the previous position, and then one hand came up, gently kneading the flesh, thumb flicking across her nipple. Her head fell back and she moaned a little.

She missed the warmth of his hand immediately when he went to her waist, unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans, silently encouraging her to lift her hips and let him slide the pants down her legs. His hand ran the length of her leg once bare, and he was completely between her legs. The hand ran to the inside of her thigh and she bucked her hips a little in anticipation, but he never came close, instead moving back up her body and starting a deep kiss, tongue gently rolling against hers. Her fingers threaded through the soft hair at the nape of his neck. She got one leg around his waist, hips moving against his. His hand was on her breast again, and _fuck_ , she loved those touches.

“You have too much clothing on,” she whispered against his lips.

He smiled. She lowered her hands, unbuckling his belt, and then unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans. She gave him a long look, sliding a hand inside his pants, gently squeezing his length through his shorts. He exhaled harshly, making a needy noise in the back of his throat. And yeah, he was as turned on by all of this as she was.

In a graceful move, he settled next to her, quickly taking off the jeans and his shorts, leaving him completely bare to her. She already knew the man was gorgeous, but seeing him naked, nothing to the imagination, and _damn_ , he was beautifully put together. Lean muscles, firm ass, no chest hair expect for a dark trail heading south, nice cock, hard and curling towards his stomach.

His hand gently ran down her stomach, fingers hooking into the waistband of her panties. Those fingers slipped inside, teasing, but not getting anywhere close to where she wanted him. He probably had a wicked tongue that could send her over the edge and he’d already proven to have talented fingers, but right now she just wanted _him_. The creativity could wait until later. And she knew he could tell how ready she was for the main act. He smiled, removing his fingers and gently sliding the underwear off and down her legs. His hand came up, brushing briefly against where she wanted, but continuing.

“What do you want?” he whispered against her lips.

“You,” she said simply.

_Fucking hell_ , he was so graceful, when he slid an arm around her waist, and then quickly got settled back between her legs. He hesitated for just a moment, and she knew the question they hadn’t asked each other yet. “I have the implant,” she said breathlessly. “We’re covered.”

He relaxed immediately. “Good.”

And then finally, _finally_ , he pushed in and was _exactly_ where she wanted him.

She made a loud and embarrassing noise when he entered her. She wrapped both legs around his waist, hips moving just a little to meet his movements. A few weeks ago, she had been considering next having sex again. She was glad to have met him, to be here, _right now_. And then his fingers were between their bodies, finding purchase on something she _really_ liked.

“Fuck,” she ground out, pleasure coursing through her.

He had a hand on her thigh, starting a good rhythm and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders pulling him down for another kiss. He obliged her, and then rested his forehead against hers. For a few moments, the entire world was just _them_ , their bodies moving together, his eyes, sharing breath, noises almost seeming to sync up. This was one of the most intense experiences of her life and she never wanted the moment to end.

But she was getting close and so was he, the rhythm faltering just a little. And she wanted more with him, wanted to try more things with him, because he wasn’t rushing, he was taking his time, enjoying every aspect of this.

She grabbed his hand, pushing him back between their bodies.

“Slow down, beautiful,” he whispered. “You’ll get there,” but still did what she wanted.

Another thrust and a rub, and she was there, over the edge, riding out the wave of her orgasm, and he was right behind her, coming deep inside her.

Everything was quiet for a few moments, roaring in her ears finally settling down. He pulled out and rearranged them, so he was lying by her side.

She tried to catch her breath, turning towards him. “What the hell just happened?”

He wrapped both arms around her, pulling her close. She snuggled into the warmth of his body as he kissed the top of her head. “Really, really good sex, that’s what.”

“You that confident all the time?”

“Well, _now_ I am.”

“Prove it.”

“Prove what?”

“That you can deliver every time.”

That fucking _grin_ came back. “Just give me two minutes and then it’s on!”

\-----------------

The next morning, Echidna snuggled into the warmth of her blankets, reaching out to Scorpio. His spot in the bed was cold. She opened her eyes, feeling a pang of disappointment. She hadn’t really wanted him to be someone who left before she woke up and yet… she frowned, sitting up a little. Something wasn’t right. She could smell food _cooking_. She didn’t have food in the apartment, and only had a frying pan and saucepan because Naga said she might want to heat something up someday. (And a few others bowls and dishes, but not really enough to cook with.)

What the hell?

She got out of bed quickly, shivering in the morning coolness, and grabbed a pair of pajama pants and a tank top, padding into the kitchen.

Scorpio was there, only wearing his jeans, and cooking _eggs_?

He smiled as she walked in. “Good morning,” he said softly. “I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to cook you breakfast and ordered a few groceries via drone.”

She frowned. “I have enough dishes to cook?”

“You have a frying pan and a spatula,” he shrugged. “I can make it work.”

A million questions were running through her head, but all she asked was, “What are you making?”

“Turkey sausage, veggies and egg scramble. You want coffee or tea?”

“Just black tea. I should have some.”

“You do. About the only real food you had in here.”

“Did you inventory my kitchen?”

“Only enough to find what I needed to make breakfast. Sit down, everything will be ready in a minute.”

She sat down at the table, trying to process her thoughts. Why wasn’t she more upset that he had gone through her kitchen? Because no one before in her life had stuck around long enough to even order room service breakfast, let alone buying _groceries_ so they could _make_ her breakfast. She never wanted a relationship before, because she didn’t want someone in her space. She wanted to know that she could always go home, retreat. But somehow, the idea of Scorpio being here, doing domestic things, didn’t really bother her. She could tell him no and he would immediately respect whatever that boundary was. This was ridiculous, because she barely knew him, but she felt like she could trust him.

“Also, sorry it’s a little early,” he apologized as he put the scramble onto two plates. “I have to be at work soon, and still need to go home and change into my uniform.”

“Probably shower,” she added.

He smiled. “Yeah, my coworkers might appreciate that.”

He set both plates down on the table, and then brought over a mug with a black tea bag. He only had a glass of water for himself. “You don’t drink coffee or tea?” she asked.

“Couldn’t have either for a while, and then found I lost my taste for them.” He shrugged. “Not exactly something that affects my life.”

He sat down next to her, handing her a fork.

She accepted the fork.

“I’ve only ever fed this to my brother and his husband, and they told me it was good, so please let me know if they were lying to me.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and took a bite of the food. “This is good,” she told him sincerely and took another bite. She could get used to having actual meals around.

His grin was back. “I’m glad to hear that.”

They ate in a comfortable silence for a moment, then she noticed Scorpio staring at her hair. She frowned, then realized she hadn’t done anything about her braids from last night, so they were likely loose and sloppy and she probably looked insane right now. On instinct, her hand came up, trying to smooth down her hair and losing badly.

He looked amused, but offered, “I can redo your braids if you want.”

She stopped, fork in the air and narrowed her eyes at him. “Wait… you can braid?”

“Sure.” He replied with a shrug. “I’m from a desert planet originally and warriors from our planet wear their hair in braids. I’ve been able to do that since I was a kid.” She continued to stare at him. Sure, he was from the Scorpius System and there was no way of knowing how widespread any of the traditions were, but she could only hear Naga’s voice explaining the exact same thing to her when he visited her the first time in the refugee center.

He pointed at the lone picture she had on the fridge. “Where is the picture from?” he asked, seeming curious about her life.

The picture was from the stupid harvest fun run Naga talked her into doing. She hadn’t really talked to any of the other Ophiuchus people there, had tried to keep to herself, simply concentrating on running as fast as she could. She hadn’t wanted to be there, but Naga always talked her into coming along, said socializing was good for her or some nonsense.

“Harvest fun run,” she mumbled.

“Oh yeah? I’ve done a couple of those with my brother. His husband always puts together group activities for some people originally from the Ophiuchus System who settled here.”

Echidna dropped her fork to the table with a clatter and looked at him. “What’s your brother’s name?”

He blinked. “Stinger. Why?”

“He’s married to Naga?”

“Yes, I—” He stopped and looked back at the picture from the fun run. “Was your hair pink at some point?”

“Yes.” She blinked.

Scorpio’s eyes widened. “You’re Naga’s friend.” He smiled. “How have we never met?”

“Because I hate all the activities that Naga plans and avoid them at all costs.”

“Sure, but I mean, we didn’t even cross paths when Mika was born and I was at the hospital a lot.” He shook his head. “You’re the one who had pink hair that wouldn’t talk to anyone.”

Echidna felt herself flush. “I got rid of the pink hair,” she mumbled.

“I’m not… don’t think I’m judging you. I’m not offended. You’re not required to talk to anyone.” He gave her an appraising look. “I would not have realized you were from the Ophiuchus System.”

She sighed. “I don’t like to look like the others.” Her nails currently had blue sparkly nail polish. “I would have colored contacts too, but I tried them once and they hurt my eyes, so I just put up with that part.”

He reached out, gently squeezing her wrist. “What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

“I just… I understand if you don’t want to see me again.”

He frowned. “Why would I want that?”

“Because I’m sure Naga and Stinger have told you all kinds of stories about me.”

“Not really. Naga talks about his friend every so often, and Stinger seems to mention that you like his turkey soup whenever he makes the stuff, but no, they do not gossip about you.” He shook his head. “I don’t tell a lot of people this, but I was in cryo-freeze for two and a half years. Went through the detox program, had to live with Stinger and Naga for a year, and then ended up staying for a while longer. I always thought I was this _burden_ on them, took me a year to realize that they were genuinely glad to have me around, Stinger especially.”

“You were with Jark Matter? One of the ones they brainwashed?”

“Yes. I’m not proud of any of that. Thought I didn’t deserve to have a family or friends or anything. Definitely thought my brother would be complaining about me to everyone he knew. But he wasn’t. Because, as annoying as his ass is, he is kind and compassionate and wants to help people. So know they aren’t talking about you either, and Naga really cares about you.”

“Really?” She wanted to believe those words so much.

“Really,” Scorpio confirmed. “He’s in the hospital, just had a baby, and is fussing about making sure the baby is cleaned up before his friend comes. I didn’t understand what the big deal was, but he wanted things as comfortable as possible for you.” He shook his head. “Stinger finally convinced him that newborn anything looks like an angry red potato and you weren’t watching the actual birth.”

“Did you watch the birth?”

“Gods no, they kept that to themselves.”

But he was grinning again. She picked up her fork, feeling a little more motivated to eat. The food was really good and she didn’t really want to let anything get cold. They sat in a comfortable silence again for a while, Echidna mulling over the information. She knew on some level that Naga was her friend and would do anything for her, but she had trouble believing that he really didn’t talk about her. Definitely had trouble believing that Stinger didn’t. She and Stinger had butted heads on more than one occasion about the life choices she made. Naga said that was because Stinger was worried. But she was fine, mostly made decent decisions. She thought.

They were almost done eating when Scorpio asked, “When can I see you again?”

Without hesitating, Echidna replied automatically, “Tonight.”

“Good to know I didn’t scare you off.”

“I’m the one that scares people off,” she retorted, but then softened with, “I can’t order groceries or anything, but there’s another bar near here I go to that serves food.”

“Can you order food there?” No judgment, just a question.

“No, but I can order drinks.”

“Do ordering apps overwhelm you too?”

“A lot of them. Especially ones I haven’t used before.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying, “How about this? I’ll come over around seven, we can go for a walk, see where the evening takes us. I’ll either bring over groceries or we’ll get some food, but I’m not committing to either. I want to keep you guessing.” He winked.

She pretended to glower at him. “How I am supposed to contact you?”

“Guess I should give you my number then.”

They exchanged contact information, and Echidna explained the building’s page system to him. She could either buzz him into the building or meet him downstairs. He had to be at work, so he found the rest of his clothes and got dressed, coming into the kitchen to see her again. He drew her into his arms. “I’ve never seen anyone twice in a row before,” she whispered.

“I’m happy to be the first experience,” he replied with a grin.

Another lingering kiss and he was gone. Echidna stared at the door long after he left. Her heart was still pounding in her chest. She was terrified and exhilarated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you to everyone for reading last time around! Thank you for commenting and kudos-ing too! Shout-out to 8bitstrawberrie for the encouragement (and love of Echidna!) Drop me a kudos or comment, or reach out on tumblr! Let me know you're out there, everyone! <3


	4. Wait for It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’d seen each other multiple times a week for the last month. Scorpio wanted to talk about making this exclusive, maybe putting some kind of label on their relationship. (And other milestones.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, huge shout-out to 8bitstrawberrie! Thanks for all the encouragement and conversations! I swear this fic will get done! Also: one of these scenes is definitely for you! ;)
> 
> We're moving forward here! Enjoy!

**4/ Wait for It**

_If there’s a reason I’m by her side, when so many have tried, then I’m willing to wait for it._

One of the most intriguing things Scorpio had learned about Echidna was her absolute dichotomy. If she was in her comfort zone, like her apartment or one of the bars she frequented, she was in her element—sarcastic, foul-mouthed, utterly wild in bed, a goddamn _pistol_. Put her any place she wasn’t comfortable, which seemed to be just about anywhere else, and she curled in on herself like a scared animal, couldn’t talk, couldn’t make eye contact, shaking. She wasn’t particularly interested in getting over any of those fears and had learned to live her life around them.

Which was why he did not want to take her trust in him for granted.

They’d seen each other multiple times a week for the last month. He wanted to talk about making this exclusive, maybe putting some kind of label on their relationship. However, he had a feeling that labeling their relationship would not be something Echidna wanted to do or would make her overthink. At this point, he was fine with just knowing they were exclusive.

And, so far, they’d managed to avoid telling Stinger or Naga about them. Scorpio figured, right now, there wasn’t much to tell. He wasn’t even sure if there was a _them_.

Friday evening. He had this weekend off, and had gotten a message from Echidna, asking if he was coming over. He’d probably end up spending the weekend at her apartment, which was fine with him. His own apartment was extremely close to work, affordable (which meant he saved a lot of money), but in an older, crowded complex. Noise was the biggest complaint. Echidna’s building was quiet. The units were more spread out and he swore there was noise-proofing between them. He’d never heard her neighbors, never even really seen them. The place was bliss after spending all day in a noisy grocery store and going home to a noisy apartment building.

He’d told her he was, and he’d bring dinner. Echidna loved eating actual food, but hadn’t wanted to figure out what to eat or how much, and ended up falling back on nutritional shakes. Honestly? Scorpio never even heard of those, until one of the curbside pick-up associates showed him where they were in their healthy living aisle. He was cooking for her or bringing food fairly often, showing her variety, portions, special treats. She had a treadmill in her apartment and would run until she practically collapsed, so he figured some extra treats wouldn’t hurt her.

Tonight’s dinner was take-out from a local stir-fry place. He also had a bag of groceries so he could cook breakfast and maybe lunch, and had some extra clothes for himself (which seemed prudent if he ended up staying the entire weekend.)

He got to her place shortly before seven and she buzzed him into the building. She was already waiting and pulled the door open when he arrived. “Finally,” she muttered and dragged him into the apartment. She didn’t even give him a chance to put the bags down, before she had started a deep, messy kiss, one that he felt in his entire body. Gods, how was this woman such a _force_?

When she stepped back, he grinned. “Hello to you too.”

Echidna glowered at him. “Shut-up.”

He winked at her. Which irritated her more, but he set the bags on the table and began unpacking the take-out and the smell of food got her attention. She never really asked about the food, just hovered on the edges of the action. She was wearing leggings and an oversized shirt. Probably no bra, if he knew her (and he did.) “Stir-fry,” he explained.

“Golden Dragon?”

She always remembered the name of the restaurant. “Yes,” he confirmed. “Different from last time though—chicken and broccoli, and teriyaki shrimp.”

He could see the wheels turning. She knew this was a moment to make a decision, but she was finding herself unable to. When they went out, he usually decided for her, doing his best to pick something she liked. After the third time of that, he’d asked her if she was really all right with this. (Anyone else would have been mad.) But she shook her head, assuring him that she really couldn’t come up with a decision and everything he’d picked had been delicious.

“I was thinking we split each one,” he continued. “Then you can try both.”

The tension in her shoulders drained immediately and she nodded. “I guess you’re more than a pretty face,” she muttered.

“I feed you too.”

She moved from the edge of the kitchen, closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around his waist. He pulled her into an embrace. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Crash and burn.”

She drew back, narrowing her eyes. “I will have you know—”

“You got along just fine before me? Yes, I know. However, I have all the things here to make you fresh scones in the morning, and I know you want lemon raspberry scones, so maybe don’t try to run me off tonight?”

“Alright,” she relented. “You’ve earned yourself tonight.”

He grinned, and asked, “Help me put away the groceries?”

“Fine.” Her tone was long-suffering, but she opened the grocery bag and began taking the cold items to her fridge. She glanced at the other bag. “You planning on staying a while?”

“Only until you throw me out.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I kind of like having you around.”

They put the groceries away quickly, and he put his bag in the bedroom. She got out some plates and he quickly divided out the food. Echidna got two glasses of water and some chopsticks. “Want to eat in here or the living room?” he asked.

“It’s dinner. Living room.”

As far as she was concerned, they ate breakfast in the kitchen. Lunch could be eaten anywhere, but dinner was in the living room. Her coffee table was wide and low, meaning they could sit on the floor and eat there, which he kind of liked. (He’d lived with Stinger and Naga too long—they pretty much ate every meal at their dining room table.) They ate dinner quickly, with Echidna asking about his week, and he had some particularly annoying customers to regale her with, along with a new part-timer that quit on their first morning before they’d never gotten up that early in their lives. When he asked about her week, she simply said, “I just finished a big project and I’m tired.”

Translation: she didn’t want to completely jump into bed tonight. She wanted to cuddle on the couch and see what she felt like doing later.

So that’s what they did. He cleaned up the dinner dishes, telling her to pick a movie and he would make some cinnamon-sugar popcorn. By the time he got back with the snacks, she had landed on a movie they’d watched many times before, but Echidna knew she vaguely liked the film. (So, in her comfort zone.) He didn’t mind. He had a feeling, if she ever got comfortable enough to try restaurants on her own, she’d find something she liked and happily eat there every day for weeks.

He didn’t make a lot of popcorn, because he knew she wasn’t going to eat much more tonight. He settled on the couch and she curled up against his side, feet tucked underneath her and both arms around him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, keeping her close. They were the same height, but she managed to tuck herself around him, so he could stroke the top of her head. And she was not lying about being tired, her breathing evening out the further they got into the movie. He figured they could just go to bed early, and she’d probably be up for fooling around in the morning.

The movie was over and he gently said, “Echidna?”

“Hmm?” She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “What?”

“Are you… seeing anyone else?”

She frowned, sitting up a little. “No.” Then she snapped, “I’m getting pounded by a hot man multiple times a night and most mornings, and you make breakfast. Why in the hell would I want to go out and find someone else?”

He smiled, gently pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m not seeing anyone else either, and I’d really like to make this exclusive.”

The sarcasm and force was completely gone, and she looked a little vulnerable, eyes wide, when she whispered, “Me too.” She pulled away from him, body language moving a little into frustration as she looked at him, and added, “I wasn’t going to fuck you tonight, but now you’ve changed my mind.” She stood up and grabbed his hand, tugging him off the couch. “Let’s go.”

He grinned. “Sounds good to me.”

He was on board with this plan.

\--------------------

Scorpio had a tension headache, been there all afternoon. Work was particularly annoying—they were short staffed, plus several difficult people had to be dealt with at his level. And a department manager ordered the wrong amount and now they had too much of a particular product. The district manager had been all over his ass, but at least he had an extra vacation day coming up. Once he left work, he was officially free for a long weekend.

He stopped by his apartment, got out of his work clothes and took a quick shower. He changed into something comfortable, grabbed a bag with a few things for the weekend and headed out for Echidna’s place. She would immediately be able to tell he had a headache. She was extremely observant. They had officially been seeing each other for two months. Still managed to avoid telling his brother and Naga. (Oh, his baby brother would most likely be supportive, but he had a tendency to ask _questions_ and Scorpio wasn’t ready to answer any of those questions right now.)

Echidna buzzed him into the building and she let him in the moment he hit her floor. Once they were inside, she stepped back, chewing the inside of her lip and said bluntly, “You don’t feel well.”

“It’s just a headache,” he reassured her.

“You should sit down,” she decided. She took his bag from him and ushered him over to the couch, before going to put the bag in the bedroom.

“What did you want to do for dinner?” he asked her.

She appeared in the entrance of the living room, still chewing her lip. “We could order in?” She sounded hesitant and unsure.

He smiled. “That’s great.” He leaned back against the couch, glad to finally have some _quiet_. Because this was a stupid tension headache, he hadn’t bothered to take any painkillers, figured he’d feel better once he got here and away from everything. Echidna had been gone a moment too long, so he just called, “Echidna, beautiful? What’s wrong?”

She came back to the living room and he immediately saw what the problem was. She frequently beat herself up over a lot of her anxiety issues. He was gently trying to talk her into at least starting video call sessions with a therapist, but she ultimately had to decide she wanted that. She was holding her datapad and her bear, lower lip trembling a little. _Gods_ , she was so strong, such a force, and he hated seeing her vulnerable and down on herself like this. But, he had an idea.

“Ordering food get to you?” he asked gently. She nodded. “Do you know what you want?” She shook her head yes, and Scorpio was pleased. A month ago, she wouldn’t have been able to make that decision. “You want me to help?” Another head motion and then she was on the couch with him, offering him the datapad. He grinned. “No, beautiful, I’m going to talk you through this, but you’re going to do it.”

“Scorpio…” Her voice took on a subtle whine.

He wrapped an arm around her waist. “I’m right here. And so is your bear.” He looked her in the eye. “I know you want to do this.”

She snuggled against him, shaking, bear tight under one arm. Her hands were shaking badly, but she managed to open the app. “Which restaurant?” he asked her and she named a pizza place. “Okay, I helped you favorite a bunch of places and I know that place is one of them. So go to your favorites, and then tap on it.”

Echidna was still shaking, but followed his directions.

“You said you know what you want?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “But I don’t know if it’s what you want.”

“Beautiful, I will eat anything on pizza you decide to get. Pick what you want.”

He rubbed her side, kissing her temple as she picked out a pizza and toppings, and added the pie to the cart. She also ordered two side salads. (Okay, so Stinger and Naga constantly had salad with pasta or pizza, and Scorpio had picked up the habit and now Echidna just thought that was what was done when those dishes were involved. He wasn’t telling her otherwise.)

Order placed, Echidna looked exhausted, like she’d run a marathon.

“You did it,” he said softly.

“I did,” and she still sounded shaky. “I _should_ be able to do it,” she muttered. “You don’t feel well and I should be able to do something to take care of you.”

“You are,” he wrapped both arms around her, pulling her close. She wrapped an arm around him in return, other arm still holding her bear.

She sighed. “I wish I was normal.”

“Trust me, you _are_ normal. I work in retail. I’ve seen the real weirdos.”

She nudged him and retorted, “You know what I mean,” but he could feel her relax against him. “Can you show me how to make the scones in the morning?”

He gave her an appraising look. “You want to learn how to cook?”

She shrugged. “Just some things.” She exhaled harshly. “I don’t know… I don’t want you to be embarrassed by me when we go out.”

“Beautiful, I am _not_ embarrassed by you. _At all_.” He paused. They’d only been together two months, but he honestly had never felt about anyone the way he felt about Echidna. She had gotten under his skin and he just liked spending time with her. “Can I tell you something?” She looked up at him, gray eyes wide and waiting. “I know we haven’t been together long, but I love you and I don’t want you to be normal because that’s what everyone else does. I want you to figure out what _you_ want.”

“I want my pizza,” she muttered.

“And scones,” he pointed out.

She glowered at him, but then softened and said, “I never understood why Naga would date and then marry Stinger. I didn’t see any benefit to their arrangement and then he had a kid and I thought he was crazy. He tried to explain love to me so many times, but I never really understood. But then I met you and I started to wonder if _this_ is what love feels like.”

He gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “How long until the food gets here?”

She glanced at her datapad. “Twenty-five minutes.”

“My headache is better. Think I can get you off in twenty-five minutes?”

Echidna looked incredulous. “You don’t need more than ten for that. Ever.” She stood up and grabbed his hand. Oh, she was fine with sex on the couch or any other place in the apartment, but she didn’t want to eat someplace where they’d just had sex. She liked to separate the two activities, which meant he wasn’t eating fruit off her stomach any time soon, but he’d live.

He was pretty sure she just said she loved him too.

So today had gotten a lot better.

\--------------------

Three months. Three fucking months and now everything was over. He felt like his heart was getting ripped out of his chest. He hadn’t realized how hard he’d fallen for her, how in love with her he was in such a short time. And now she was telling him this was too much and he was better off without her? This made no sense. They saw each other two days ago and she’d been _fine_. Well, _fine_ wasn’t exactly the word. She’d had an anxiety attack at dinner, but the wait staff had been very friendly and patient, even boxed up their food for them and let him pay quickly. But they got back to her place, and she felt better, even enjoyed eating dinner.

What the fuck had happened?

The messages he was sending her were getting increasingly desperate, bordering on crazy. He just wanted to know if this was what _she_ really wanted. Obviously, he didn’t want this at all. He liked her, thought they had a real shot at a future together. Gods, had he just projected a bunch of stuff on her because he wanted a relationship—a family—for himself so badly?

He was leaving work with every intention of just going over to her place and sitting outside until she either came down or called the cops when his phone rang.

_Echidna_.

He picked up immediately. “Thank the gods,” he breathed. “Beautiful, I—”

“Scorpio,” she cut him off, voice thick like she’d been crying. “I know I owe you an explanation and I thought I could do it via messages, but I can’t.” She sniffed hard and then said, “Just meet me outside of my apartment building. I’ll tell you everything.”

“I’ll be there soon,” he said before she disconnected the call.

Heart racing, he got to her apartment building as fast as he could. She was already outside when he got there, sitting on a stone wall that enclosed some landscaping. She was staring at a shrub and had very obviously been crying. She was wearing loose jersey pants and an oversized t-shirt, hair hanging in her face. That was usually a bad sign as far as she was concerned. He itched to pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be all right.

“Echidna,” he said softly, approaching her and sitting down on the wall near her. Not directly next to her, far enough away to be respectful.

“Hey,” she said mournfully, not looking at him, fingers restlessly playing with the leaves on the shrub.

“I’m glad you wanted to talk,” he told her, trying to disguise how much of a fucking mess he was right now.

“I think…” she started and then trailed off. “I’m sorry,” she ended up whispering.

“For what?”

“Everything,” she made a sweeping hand gesture. “I know that I’m like _this_ and I let this go on for too long because you’re so amazing and you put up with my bullshit and I don’t even know how you are fucking real, and I don’t want you to have to go through this with me anymore.”

“Is this about the other night?”

“No, it’s about everything!” Tears began rolling down her cheeks. She took a shaky breath and clarified, “The other night didn’t help.”

“Nothing bad happened,” he pointed out.

“I was freaking out in front of all those people!”

“There were two wait staff who let us out the backdoor so no one else would see you.”

“Exactly! I’m just this fucking mess who has to go out backdoors because I can’t handle one goddamn dinner out with someone who I fucking love!”

“Echidna, you have anxiety. Things will happen. I’m not afraid to go out with you.”

“You should be. I don’t want to do this to you anymore.”

He shook his head. “It’s never a good idea to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do. Ask my brother, he knows that doesn’t end well.”

“Stinger is a self-righteous _ass_ ,” she muttered. And she wasn’t totally wrong about his baby brother—he’d just known Stinger way longer and knew there was more to him than _that_ assessment, but he’d learned in the past three months, that while Naga and Echidna were friends, she was constantly at odds with Stinger over some thing or another.

“He is a little bit,” Scorpio agreed, “but I think we all can be if given the right circumstances.” He took a deep breath, trying to quell his fears. “Echidna,” he said seriously, “Do you really want to break up?”

“No.”

“Then why don’t we go upstairs and talk about things?”

“We’ll just end up having sex.”

“I thought you liked that about our relationship?”

“I do,” she mumbled, picking at the shrub again. “I just… why do you even want to be with me?”

He moved a little closer, taking a chance. She didn’t shrink away from him. “Because you’re _hot_ and smart and funny, and do fucking amazing things with your tongue. I just like being with you.” He gently pushed her hair away from her face. “You are not only the bad things about yourself. There is so much more to you than that. I want to be with all of you. And the bad stuff really isn’t even that bad.”

She gave him a bored look. “I freaked out in the middle of a fucking restaurant!”

“Your definition of freaking out is not even close to my definition. You just got a little panicky and said we needed to leave, but you didn’t bolt out of there. You actually waited until they brought our food to-go and I paid the bill. And the waiter was trying to be nice because he knew you weren’t feeling well.”

“He was nice,” Echidna mumbled.

“Where are we on the break-up?”

“We’re not breaking up anymore, I think,” she said. “I think we’re going upstairs and fucking, and then you can explain to me why you’re not running for the hills from this horror show.”

He immediately closed the remaining distance between them, cupping her face and kissing her soundly. She responded, hands on his wrists. They broke apart briefly, and then he started a deep, thorough kiss, rolling his tongue against hers. He was so fucking relieved, and still terrified that she would decide this was all over. He didn’t want to lose her. But she didn’t want to break up either, so they’d have to work through their communication.

One of his hands was in her hair when they stopped to breath.

“I haven’t washed my hair in two days,” she admitted. “We should probably fuck in the shower.”

He laughed. “It’s not that bad.”

“That’s because you’re being nice.” She stood up and took his hand, tugging him up. “And you’re about to get laid either way, so let’s go.”

That night, they were snuggled under the blankets in her bed. She was wrapped around him, head on his shoulder, soft skin pressed against his. He was going to fight for her with everything in him, because _this_ was worth everything.

\--------------------

“When were you going to tell me that the person you’re seeing is Echidna?”

Scorpio bit back a retort, wanting to punch the wall at Stinger’s accusatory tone. By all the fucking gods, he was _twelve years_ older than Stinger. He’d raised his brother since he was five, gave up all chances of just being a carefree young adult so he could take care of him. He went into the militia because he wanted to protect Stinger and their planet. He _hated_ that his brother still acted like he was in charge of his life. Two and a half _years_ since Scorpio completed that goddamned program. He thought he and Stinger moved past this nonsense.

“We’ve only been together for six months.”

“You’ve been dating her for _six months_ and weren’t going to tell me?”

“ _THIS_ is why I didn’t tell you!”

“Scorpio,” which immediately made him angry. Stinger _never_ used his first name, except when he was about to act like he was Scorpio’s parent. Hells, he was ‘Aniki’ in Stinger’s goddamned phone. “I know how Echidna is—”

“Oh, and exactly what’s that?”

“She sleeps with anyone!”

Scorpio felt his entire spine go cold. Voice suddenly soft and icy, he asked, “And?”

“And she’s not going to be faithful to you! You want a family and someone to be loyal, and she’s not going to be able to do that!”

“How dare you,” he hissed. “You know _nothing_ about her or our relationship!”

“I know—”

“You know nothing,” he interrupted. “You think Echidna’s just going to cheat on me? That she’s going to get bored and not have the courtesy to dump me first?”

“You don’t know what she’s doing when you’re not around.”

Scorpio gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to throw his phone out a window. What Stinger didn’t know what that Echidna had allowed him to see her phone location and she had her phone with her all day. He trusted her completely, but she wanted him to be able to track her if she decided to go out and needed him to be able to find her (in case of an anxiety attack.) Her therapist thought that was a good idea too. (He liked her therapist. She was smart and practical.) He’d only needed to use the information to track her down once. She was doing really well, venturing into areas on the edges of her comfort zone. She’d even come to the grocery store once.

And he had given her the same privilege, although his path was boring. Home, work, her place, rinse and repeat. Echidna was home, working, most days, or she was with him. When she wasn’t, she was sending him messages or told him where she was going. (The latter was not a trust issue and she knew he didn’t really care where she went. But she wanted the comfort of someone knowing where she was.)

“You know what, Stinger? None of this is any of your business.”

“I’m just worried about you!”

“I don’t care what _you’re_ worried about. You don’t get to make decisions for me, so stop acting like you know everything!”

He looked up. Echidna had appeared from the bedroom. She had been in the shower when this stupid phone call started, but was clearly out, hair damp. Her eyes were narrowed and she was frowning.

Then Stinger said, “Scorpio, she is going to cheat on you!”

“You can shut the fuck up, right now!” he all but yelled into the phone.

Echidna held her hand out for the phone. Since Scorpio had no idea how long she had been listening or what she heard, he handed her the phone. Without consciously realizing that’s what he was doing. Why had he just handed her the phone with his brother being an asshole?

“Listen here, you little shit,” she said, voice calm. Too calm. Like she was going to come murder Stinger in his sleep. “If you think I wouldn’t have the courtesy to break up with Scorpio first before I went and slept with someone else, you’re a bigger moron than I thought. You do not get to interfere in our relationship and you definitely don’t get to tell Scorpio what to do. Call him again and harass him about this, and you’ll be dealing with me, you stupid cave troll. And you don’t want that. Now fuck off.” She disconnected the call and handed him the phone.

They were silent for a long moment, tense.

Then Echidna said, “I love you, but your brother is a dumbass.”

The defense was automatic and half-hearted. “He’s worried.”

“Don’t defend him. He’s hated me for a long time.”

“He doesn’t hate you.” But Scorpio didn’t really believe the words, and he was tired.

“He might not hate me, but he doesn’t like anything I’ve done with my life, although that’s none of his business, and I know he gives Naga shit for being friends with me.” Her phone beeped with a message and she looked down. “Speaking of Naga.” She read the message and said, “Naga wants me to call him. What a surprise.”

“So he can tell you Stinger’s sorry? I know Stinger. He’s not sorry. At least not yet.”

“No, Naga doesn’t jump the gun that quickly. He’ll want to make sure I’m okay and then start trying to ferret out how everyone can work past this. Goddamn peacemaker.” She looked at her phone and yelled at Naga’s message, “Why are you married to such an idiot?”

Scorpio snorted. “That I can answer. I lived with them for more than two years. They do genuinely love each other. They actually have a really solid relationship. Stinger just has stupid blind spots and all of them have to do with me or Naga.”

“So is it his worst nightmare that his brother got involved with someone he hates?”

“I don’t really give a shit what his worst nightmare is or what he thinks of you.”

“That’s because you’re not a dumbass.” Her phone beeped again. “Goddamn, Naga, I will call you. Fucking hell. So fucking needy.” She hit the button to call Naga and wandered into the bedroom.

His phone rang. Stinger. He answered, “I do not want to talk to you.”

“Just hear me out—”

“No.” He hung up. He ignored the next two calls from his brother. On the third call, he put his phone completely on silent. He slumped down on the couch, rubbing his temples. Today had been good so far. Saturday, he didn’t have to work, Echidna actually agreed to go to the farmer’s market early (before the crowds got there). Granted, she held his hand a little too tight and didn’t talk to anyone, but did communicate she wanted fresh peaches and chocolate croissants. Six months ago, she would never have agreed to go there at all. They got breakfast at a local diner, picked up some orders at a few shops, and went home. Scorpio made a light lunch, they had sex, and then his younger brother called.

Echidna came out of the bedroom and collapsed on the couch next to him. “Naga is so fucking predictable,” she muttered.

“What’d he say?”

“Wanted to know if I’m okay, Stinger didn’t mean anything bad, he’s just worried about you. Naga knows I would never do anything.” She made a derisive noise. “His whole life is just a fucking fairytale. He handles emotions with no problems. He found a husband on the first try. He pops out an adorable baby. He fixes it so him and his fucking husband don’t have to work. It’s all so fucking fake!”

“They aren’t living a fairytale.”

Echidna sat up and fixed him with a level look. “Please tell me you are about to gossip about them, because I am so tired of their fucking faces.”

Scorpio shook his head. “Stinger had PTSD that mostly I caused. He has it under control, but still has bad days, usually around loud noises that sound like a death worm.” Echidna made a face at the mention of a death worm, obviously knew how loud those fuckers were. “Naga is still in therapy for emotions, trying to figure out how to express them, sort through them, keep himself from getting overwhelmed. Which he does. Regularly. And the only reason they have as much money as they do is because they have mechanical friends who both made fortunes but have no use for the money, so they gave them ridiculous sums.”

Echidna was quiet for a moment, before she muttered, “My therapist says I do pretty well with emotions.” She caught his incredulous expression, and retorted, “Just let me feel superior for a moment, okay?”

After a long moment, she asked, “What do you want?”

“I want Stinger to apologize and then butt out.”

“Naga will make him apologize. To both of us.” She added sarcastically, “Because that’s how Naga is!”

Scorpio pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Is Stinger really shitty about you and Naga being friends?”

She sighed. “He’s never overt about it. He said for a while that I was going to get myself hurt or even killed, sleeping with strangers every night.” She exhaled harshly. “Maybe he’s right and maybe I did get lucky, who fucking knows, right? But I always knew, if I was in a bad spot, Naga would come pick up, help me out. Stinger didn’t like that much either. Thought Naga was bailing me out and I needed to face the consequences of my actions.”

Scorpio sighed. “My brother is nothing if not pedantic.” He added, “And there’s a big difference between picking up a friend and taking them home, and letting them get out of the consequences of something they did.”

“Naga’s never driven me to the police station or the hospital,” Echidna replied softly. “I know my limits.”

“I know you do.”

Echidna looked at him, eyes wide and earnest. “You know I wouldn’t sleep with someone else, right? At least, not before we broke up?”

“I know.”

“You better not either.”

“Oh, trust me, I am not doing that.”

Her phone beeped. She glanced at the message, and muttered, “Now fucking what, Naga?” She read the message and said, “Now him and Stinger want us to come over for dinner so we can talk it out.” She snorted. “What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Bullshit from someone trying to make everyone get along.” Scorpio sighed. “Tell him that’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I might punch Stinger, but I’ll try not to.”

Echidna got a shit-eating grin on her face. “Oh no, please punch him. Just wait until I can record everything. Please?”

“You’re incorrigible,” but he was smiling.

“You’d be bored without me.”

“I really would.”

\--------------------

The dinner was a week later, and Scorpio spent the week fielding multiple messages from Stinger every day about how he was sorry, but he was worried and he just wanted to make sure everything was okay. He hadn’t wanted to get into things via message with his brother, just told him everything was fine and he would see him that weekend. Dinner was on Saturday, and Scorpio had to work that day. He got through work, and went straight to Echidna’s place. She had a habit of washing and pressing any clothes he left at her apartment. He’d told her multiple times she didn’t need to do that, but she’d just shrugged and said she was washing her clothes, might as well wash his too.

His thoughts were completely jumbled when he got to Echidna’s apartment, said he was going to take a shower, and started getting out of his work uniform.

“I pressed some of your clothes,” Echidna said. “I figured you could wear the light blue shirt with the black pants.”

“Thank you,” he said softly.

She came further into the bedroom, gray eyes concerned. “Do you want me to shower with you?”

“Yes.”

She followed him into the shower, arms around his waist, pressed to his back. He was having trouble seeing a way where he kept his brother and Echidna. Stinger could be stubborn with the best of them and, if he decided Echidna was going to hurt him or wasn’t good enough for him, then Scorpio would find himself at arm’s length, not really seeing his brother or his niece often, if at all. And then there was Echidna. He did not want to lose her. He wanted to find a way for both of them to remain in his life. Echidna minced no words with her opinion of Stinger, but she wasn’t making wild accusations about his brother. Stinger had a totally false image of Echidna in his head.

Normally, he’d see if Echidna was up for messing around in the shower. But he was so distracted that he barely got washed, before they were getting out and drying off. They got dressed and he watched as Echidna dressed in a black maxi sundress and a black cardigan with black flats. All the black and her naturally pale skin made her purple hair pop even more. He thought she looked gorgeous and fuckable, and she had oversized sunglasses that just added to her attitude.

The evening was nice and they decided to walk to Stinger’s and Naga’s house, and then would summon a transport home. Echidna slipped her hand into his as they walked, threading their fingers together. They were quiet. She knew how tense he was—gods, he’d almost forgotten that she hated dinners like this, but hadn’t said a word. All her energy was focused on him, and he was touched.

They got to the front walk and Echidna said seriously, “Do you want me to kill him?”

He smiled. “No, even if he continues to be an ass, he’s my brother. I’d feel bad about that.”

She kissed his cheek. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Are _you_ going to be okay?”

She gave him a long-suffering look. “I’ve eaten Naga’s cooking before. I’ll live.”

He grabbed her wrist, pulling her in for a lingering kiss that she happily returned. She reached up, cupping his cheek for a moment. “I don’t tell you enough, but I love you. You know that, right?”

He covered her hand with his own. “I do.” He smiled. “I love you too.”

Another kiss, and then they went up the walk, Scorpio knocking and then letting them in.

Naga was in the kitchen, and Stinger was setting the table. Mika was in her playpen near the dining room, babbling to herself and playing with some toys. She was almost nine months old now. “Hey,” Stinger greeted them.

“Dinner will be ready in two minutes,” Naga added. “Make yourselves comfortable.”

Echidna squeezed his hand again. She went over to the table, giving the baby wide berth. Scorpio went over to the playpen and picked up his niece for a hug. She smiled, making a happy noise. He kissed her cheek. “Hi, sweet baby,” he whispered. Gods, no matter how much his brother annoyed him, he and Naga managed to produce a cute kid. He set her back down in the playpen and handed her a few of her toys. He didn’t want to think about not being able to see his niece again.

Naga was bringing the food to the table. Looked like he just did pasta with alfredo sauce and shrimp, along with some bread and salad. He made sure to say hello directly to Echidna. He caught Echidna’s eye as he straightened from putting down Mika. She had an odd look on her face, but went back to neutral quickly. The table was meant for six people—one at either end and two on each side. Stinger had set the plates on each side, so Scorpio sat down next to Echidna. She squeezed his knee under the table. She’d clearly been here before, because she looked calm yet watchful, eyes tracking everything Stinger or Naga did.

During dinner, the only odd thing was Stinger offering Echidna some wine, which she readily agreed to. He didn’t offer Scorpio any, which was fine, because his brother knew he didn’t drink. Stinger looked a little askance when Echidna said yes. Scorpio did not care if Echidna ordered drinks. He wasn’t imposing his choices on anyone. And she never really got drunk anymore, said she didn’t need to in order to have fun with him. (She also didn’t miss being hungover.) He hoped Stinger was not going to bring up the age difference between them either. (They’d talked about it and didn’t care. Echidna was an old soul and people tended to think he was younger than he actually was.)

Everything else was slightly tense, but okay. Naga carefully asked questions about work, shared some stories from Mika’s playgroup and asked about their plans for the rest of the weekend. He was being a little too careful, shooting glances at Stinger every so often. Stinger clearly had something to say, but was holding back under Naga’s scrutiny.

After dinner, Scorpio made a comment about knowing Echidna really well. And that was all the opening that Stinger needed.

“You don’t know everything about her,” Stinger muttered.

Scorpio fixed him with a glare. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Ask her what she did in the Ophiuchus System, before they exiled her.”

“Stinger—”

“No, ask her that. I think you want to know!”

“I am warning you—”

“She was an assassin! She tried to kill Naga!”

Scorpio reeled back like he’d been slapped. He looked at Stinger and yelled back, “ _I_ used to be a Jark Matter assassin if you remember correctly! What the fuck does that have to do with now?”

“She isn’t who you think she is.”

Echidna opened her mouth to reply, but Scorpio yelled. “She’s exactly who I think she is. _You_ aren’t who I thought you were. There was a fucking _war_ , Stinger. Everyone in this room has killed someone. You’ll notice Naga is right fucking there, alive and well, and so are all the rest of us.” He pushed back from the table. “Want to talk about self-righteous assholes who can’t change? That’s you!”

He stood up and grabbed Echidna’s hand.

“We’re leaving.”

She was trying to form a sentence, stopping trying, and just grabbed her purse.

“Aniki!”

Scorpio whirled back around to face him. “Just stop, Stinger.” Then he repeated, “We’re leaving.” He could vaguely hear Mika crying as they left, and Naga was saying something to Stinger. He felt bad about making his niece cry, because he genuinely loved that little girl. They left the house and got as far as the small park down the street.

He just stopped and was so _angry_.

Echidna caught him, hands on his arms. “You need to breath,” she said softly.

“Who the fuck does he think he is?” he muttered, but did take a deep breath.

She was still staring at him, but moved her hands to his neck. “What do you need?”

He looked at her, gray eyes wide and watching him, expression concerned for him. Gods, she was so fucking amazing and he did know what he wanted right now, but this was not the time or the place for any of that. _Fuck_. “You,” he replied, hands covering hers.

She looked around for a moment, and then said, “Okay.” She released him, grabbing his hand and hurrying him over to the public bathrooms in the park. Single stall, one door that locked. Gods, he saw where her mind was right now, and he fucking loved her for thinking of this. They got into the bathroom, shut and locked the door behind them. The light was dim, but even then, the place looked relatively well maintained.

Echidna turned around, pulling him in for a kiss. He obliged her, immediately opening, tongue rolling against hers, dominating the kiss. She made a desperate noise into the kiss, hands scrabbling at his shoulders. They broke apart to breath, and he took the opportunity to press kisses down her neck, tongue flicking out. She moaned giving him more access. “Scorpio,” she breathed. Her hands were in his hair. “Just tell me what you need. I’ll do it for you.”

He didn’t reply, just turned her around, gently pressing her against the wall. She made a surprised noise, but went easily. He moved a hand from her shoulder, pushing the cardigan aside, and feeling her breast through the dress. No bra, but he already knew that. He cupped her, fingers massaging the flesh, feeling her nipple harden under his attention. She moaned, hips moving at the attention. She loved having him touch her tits. That was the easiest way to turn her on. He moved his other hand, giving her other breast the same attention, which made her moan louder, hips moving more.

Reaching down, he hiked her dress up to her waist, hand squeezing her ass. She was wearing a pair of lacy thong underwear. He could fuck her while she wore those, but she preferred her underwear off. So he slid the flimsy garment down and she kicked the piece to one leg. So little and she was already hot and wet, and he was rock hard.

“Yes,” she was moaning. “Fuck me.”

He nudged her legs apart with his knee, and then reached down, unbuckling his belt, and then unbuttoning and unzipping his pants. He reached into his shorts, shoving everything down just enough to free his cock. He got them positioned just right and then thrust into her _hard_.

“Fuck,” she ground out. Her palm was pressed against the wall, and he raised one hand to cover hers. The other was on her hip, moving down to her thigh, helping her move and keep up with his fast and punishing rhythm. She felt so damn good, hot and tight like always, skin smooth, covered in sweat. The only sounds were their ragged breathing, the pleased noises coming out of both of them, and the slap of skin meeting skin.

He reached from her thigh, going between her legs, rubbing at her sweet spot.

And she was undone, squeezing him as she came, body slumping against the wall just a little.

He got an arm around her waist, helping keep her upright as he pounded into her a few more times and then came, her name on his lips, fingers biting too much into her hips.

Reality came crashing down around him. They just had sex in a public bathroom.

“Scorpio?” Echidna’s voice cut through the fog. “It’s okay. Just get me some damp paper towels.”

He pulled out, quickly tucking himself back in his pants. He grabbed a few paper towels from the dispenser, getting them damp under the sink. Echidna kept her dress around her waist and turned around, leaning against the wall. She used the towels to clean up a little and then got her underwear completely off, shoving the panties in her purse. She threw away the towels and sat on the sink. She held her arms out to him.

And he was immediately against her, arms tight around her waist, head against her chest, suddenly and completely _sobbing_. Her arms were around her shoulders, fingers tight in his hair. She held him tightly, making soothing noises.

This was too fucking much.

After a while, he quieted, completely exhausted, but stayed against her.

“Are you pissed I never told you I was an assassin?” she asked, fingers combing through his hair.

“You pissed I never told you I was one?”

“No. Who around here wasn’t a fucking assassin?” Her fingers through his hair felt really good. He wanted to go back to her place and go to sleep. But her voice came again, “Look, I know your brother is really important to you. He drives me fucking nuts, but he’s not completely wrong about the assassin thing. I was sent to Earth to kill Naga. He gained emotions, got in a similar situation to you and was brainwashed by Jark Matter. He almost killed me. The Kyurangers saved me. Saved Naga. In the end, I let him go.” She sighed. “Stinger has never really forgiven me for that.”

“I stabbed Naga when I was under Jark Matter influence.”

“Sure, but he’d be able to explain that away. You were in a fight, these things happen during a war, you just injured him as collateral. You didn’t intend to hurt him.” She sighed again. “I had every intention of killing Naga.” Her fingers kept going through his hair. “That’s a big reason he doesn’t like Naga being friends with me. Naga understands that was my job and I didn’t go through with it. Stinger can’t let go. And all the other stuff is just fuel. None of this is about you or even me. He loves Naga so fucking much and is terrified something will happen to him.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s afraid of, and you’re the concrete thing.”

“Exactly.” She paused and added derisively, “Little fucker needs some more therapy.”

“Don’t we all?” He exhaled against her chest. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I do.” Echidna gently eased him away from her, pushing his hair away from his face. She glanced between their bodies and said, “You need to zip up your pants first. Then we’re going back over there, and Naga and I will set your brother straight.”

They fixed their clothes so they were presentable enough again. The walk back down to Stinger’s and Naga’s house was short. Echidna slipped her hand into his on the way there and commented, “I would have skipped the panties too if I had known you were going to fuck me like that.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I think you needed that. Plus it was kind of fun. I haven’t had sex in a public place for a while.”

“Don’t get used to it,” he shot back with a grin.

“Come on, I think it’s fun. We go for a walk in the park, fuck in the bathrooms, go home. Lovely outing.”

He shook his head, but he was smiling.

They were barely up the front walk, when Naga threw the front door open. He’d obviously been crying and looked relieved to see them. He hurried down the walk to meet them, throwing his arms around both of them in a hug. “I’m so glad you came back!” he cried. “Come in,” he released them and ushered them into the house.

He wiped his eyes, explaining, “Stinger is putting Mika down, but he’ll be back in a minute.” He looked at Scorpio. “I’m really sorry. I did not think he would bring that up. I had words with him.”

“It’s not your fault,” Scorpio said sincerely.

Naga closed the distance between them, hugging him again. “I know,” he said, stepping back. “He just makes me so crazy sometimes, because he’s so protective. But I told him this nonsense has to end and he’s going back to therapy and you are still seeing your goddaughter whenever you want.”

Echidna reached out and squeezed Naga’s wrist. “Sorry,” she said softly.

Naga sighed. “It’s like he was able to compartmentalize our friendship until you started dating Scorpio. I’m not excusing him, he just expanded that protectiveness over Scorpio too.”

Footsteps were on the stairs, and Stinger appeared, saying, “She’s down and…” He stopped, looking at them. “Aniki, Echidna… you’re back.” He paused, and said, “Aniki, I—”

“No,” Echidna cut him off. “ _I_ have something to say to you.” She glanced at Scorpio and then back to Stinger. “I know you’ve never gotten over the fact that I was the assassin sent to kill Naga, and you really hate the fact that we’re friends. And now you’re pissed off because I’m fucking your brother. But here’s the thing—you don’t have to like me. In fact, I don’t care if you like me. But I would never do anything to hurt Scorpio or Naga. And if I do, you can kill me.” She shrugged. “Simple as that.”

For a moment, Scorpio thought Stinger would say something _stupid_ , but his baby brother just deflated, shoulders shaking a little. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m just so afraid. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s been worse since Mika was born.” He shook his head, tear rolling down his cheek. “It’s no excuse. Just know I’m sorry and I will be supportive from now on.”

Scorpio felt bad for his baby brother. He was still annoyed and angry about everything before, but watching Stinger struggle was hard for him. He reached out, clapping Stinger’s shoulder. “Maybe we can take Mika to the farmer’s market next weekend. Just us. Talk about some things.”

Stinger wiped away a tear. “Don’t you go with Echidna?”

She snorted. “Please give me an excuse not to go. Even early, it’s too people-y.”

They left a few minutes later. The sun was just starting to set. Echidna slipped her hand into his. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

And he really did feel like everything was going to be okay.

\--------------------

Echidna had sent him a message that afternoon, asking him to come over that night. Scorpio spent most nights at her place, had for the last, gods, almost a year. A lot of his things were at her apartment, and she’d cleared space in the dressers and wardrobe for him. He asked her if everything was okay, and she just replied that she wanted him to come over. Which meant something was wrong. He tried to think if anything had happened recently.

And was coming up blank.

Mika’s first birthday had been four months back, and Stinger and Naga naturally had a party for her. This young, the guests were really their family and friends, and Scorpio was her godfather, so he knew he’d need to get there early and help set up the party. He’d managed to forge forward with his brother over the last few months. Stinger started seeing a therapist again and that helped. He was a lot more centered and his questions about their relationship had turned to idle curiosity.

Naga kept insisting Echidna should come too and she had been less than thrilled about the idea. But if Scorpio thought Stinger was stubborn and persistent, he had nothing on Naga. Who just kept telling Echidna how much he wanted to see her and how much Mika liked her. (Which was true. Echidna never attempted to interact with Mika, but that kid was smart and smiled at her.) Echidna kept to herself and hadn’t said much, but that was her normal mode in parties like that.

Other than that, things had been routine. Quiet. They went to work, saw each other most days of the week, went out from time to time, and had _a lot_ of creative and sometimes kinky sex. He’d mentioned to her that their one-year anniversary was coming up. She didn’t wear much jewelry, so he asked if that would be something she was interested in. He’d not been expecting her to say yes, and definitely had not been expecting her to pick out an old school style sterling silver heart-shaped locket. But she did. He had the locket ready to give to her, along with an entire plan for a steamy night. (She didn’t need to know that he’d made the locket himself.)

So she’d had a bad day and wanted him around.

He picked up some groceries from the store after work and went straight to her place. He’d had the building code for six months, and she programmed the locks to the apartment to allow him in around that same time. The place was dark when he entered and turned on the kitchen light, setting the bags on the table. “Echidna?” he called.

“Here,” was the miserable reply.

His eyes adjusted and he could see that she was curled up on the couch with her bear. He came into the living room and turned on the lamp. She’d been crying.

The cold groceries could wait a minute. He immediately sat down next to her, pulling her into his arms. “Hey,” he said softly. “It’s okay.” He rocked her a little bit. She clutched his shirt, still holding onto the bear. He’d learned a long time ago that the bear came out when she was anxious or upset, and was basically a comfort source for her. She told him once that Naga gave her the bear back in the refugee center and she liked the plush a lot. (Although the bear had a loose seam or two, and Scorpio was trying to figure out how he could repair the bear without drawing too much attention to the fact.) “What happened?”

Echidna started crying again. She wiped her eyes furiously. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid if you’re this upset.”

She sniffed a little, trying to get some composure. “One of the clothing sites I like has a store in town,” she said slowly. “And I can never figure out what size to get, so I thought, I could just go there and try things on, right? Buy some stuff. How hard can _that_ possibly be?”

“And?”

She wiped her eyes again. Scorpio reached up, wiping away a tear that rolled down her cheek. “I don’t know. I didn’t really want to be there and the person there saw me walk in, and then said I was a beanpole and they wouldn’t have clothes for me there.” She exhaled harshly. “Which is stupid. I’ve bought their clothes online before.”

“Beautiful, I’m sorry.”

“I just left. She was rude.”

“She was. That’s not how you run a store. Any of my employees would be fired if they were that rude to a customer.”

She looked miserable when she said, “I just… hate _trying_ things.”

“Echidna, you didn’t do anything wrong.” He rubbed her back a little. “I know how hard all this is for you and how hard you’re trying. Don’t let one person who doesn’t want to make a sale upset you like this.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, that’s easy. We complain to their corporate office, never shop there again and spend lots of money at their biggest competitor.”

_That_ got Echidna to smile a little. She playfully nudged him. “You’ve been in retail too long.” She wiped her eyes again, sighing. “Thank you for coming over,” she said softly. She then asked, “When are you watching the baby?”

“Not until Friday night. I’m just staying at their house. Be easier for her.” He smiled, “And she’s not really a baby anymore. Almost a year and a half.”

“It’s really been that damn long?”

“Hard to believe.”

“Fucking hell, where does the time go?” She glanced in the kitchen. “Did you bring groceries? We should put them away.” He followed her into the kitchen as she went through the bags, easily putting away everything. A year ago, she would have been confused about what went in the fridge versus the freezer versus the pantry. Now, she just put things away. She shocked him by asking, “Do you want me to come with you on Friday and help?”

“I thought you didn’t like kids?”

“I don’t, but like, you can take care of the baby and I’ll take care of you, and then maybe Naga will shut-up about how I need to get out more.” She added, “I can cook all four things I know how to cook.”

He smiled. Stinger asked him recently what he got out of the relationship. To outsiders, things seemed really one-sided, with Scorpio doing most of the work. He had carefully explained that things were more complicated than they appeared. Yes, Scorpio did the grocery shopping and cooking, and was the one basically living two places. And, sure, their sex life was absolutely amazing. But Echidna was sharp and observant, great to talk to. He learned she didn’t have a cleaning service for her apartment and did all the cleaning herself. He helped, but discovered her doing his laundry, organizing the pantry. She also knew a hell of a lot more about finance and investments than him. He wasn’t doing badly financially, but she helped clean up all his money. And she didn’t avoid subjects that couples fought about—money, politics, religion. She wasn’t afraid to let new facts change her opinion, and goddamn, that made her refreshing to be around.

“That’s fine then,” he agreed. She was finishing putting items in the fridge, so he just asked, “Do you want me to help you order some clothes tonight?”

She shut the fridge and said evenly, “I can use that app now.”

“I know, but maybe you want a second opinion.”

“Your opinion doesn’t help because you think I look hot in everything.”

“You _do_ look hot in everything.”

“See? You’re no help.” She shook her head, but he could tell she was amused. “Also you’re weird. I have an entire drawer of black lace underwear in the bedroom and your favorites are the cotton ones with flowers and a bow.”

He didn’t even bother to try to look embarrassed or guilty. Just grinned. “I like the lace because you do. The other ones seem more comfortable and you’re less inhibited when you’re comfortable, so of course, that’s going to turn me on.”

“See? Weird.” She crossed the room to him, kissing him quickly. “Is dinner the lemon chicken orzo? Because that looks like the groceries you brought.”

“It is. You want to order clothes while I cook dinner?”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I already know you will be no help.”

While he cooked, she perused options and would occasionally come into the kitchen and show him something. She landed on a handkerchief dress in black and purple. “That would be sexy,” he told her sincerely.

She was chewing the inside of her lip. “I think my tits are too small to pull that off.”

“I think smaller works better for those dresses. You can’t really wear a bra with them. Besides,” he said with a wink. “Your tits aren’t too small. They’re the perfect size.”

“Really?” She sounded surprised.

“Really,” he confirmed.

“Huh.” She wandered off into the living room. She’d be mulling that piece of information over for a while.

After dinner, her clothing order arrived via drone.

“You going to try things on?” he asked.

Echidna gave him a skeptical look. “Am I your niece’s age?”

“Okay, she’s one and doesn’t know that concept.” He didn’t add that Stinger made the vast majority of her clothing, and Scorpio had also made clothes for his niece. That was the one thing he hadn’t really told Echidna yet. She wouldn’t care and would probably be annoyed her hadn’t said anything up front. He just liked having a secret that produced things that suited Echidna perfectly and she had no idea where they came from. “Also,” he added. “I want to see you in the dress.”

“Fine,” she replied, long-suffering.

He sat on the end of the bed, watching as she changed into the dress. Echidna had no problem taking clothes off in front of him—never had. She stripped down to her panties, and then slipped the dress on. “You have to tie it,” she informed him, holding up the ties that went around her neck.

Smiling, he got up, and did the ties in the back and around the neck for her.

She frowned and went into the bathroom to look in the mirror. He followed her, arms around her waist, kissing her neck. “I don’t know,” she murmured.

“You look amazing,” he murmured. He moved his hands, one gently cupping her breast through the dress. She gasped a little, moving back against him. “This compliments your tits nicely.” He flicked his thumb over the nipple, feeling it harden under his touch. “And,” he moved his hand down, “this clings enough to show off your waist definition, and,” he moved lower, still, cupping and then gently squeezing her ass, “this makes your ass look fantastic.”

Echidna smirked a little. “Do you want to fuck me while I wear this?”

She turned around in his arms, and gracefully slid her underwear down and off.

“Well, that makes it easier,” he commented, and then reached behind her neck, gently undoing the ties. The straps fell down, exposing her chest.

She looked down. “Huh. That’s a much faster way to get my tits out.”

He laughed a little and got an arm around her waist, practically carrying her back to the bed. He gently laid her down on the bed, so her legs fell over the end. She gasped a little bit, knowing what he had in mind. One hand came up, gently cupping her breast again, paying attention to her nipple. She arched beautifully under the attention. The moment her moved away, her hand came up, continuing the attention that he started. Gods, that was so incredibly hot.

He nudged her legs apart, gently pushing the dress up to her waist. His hand traced her bare hip and she shivered, hips moving a little. He traced a line from one hip to the other, fingers gently brushing the silky, silver hair between her legs, but not going further. Not just yet. He could feel the heat radiating from her body, knew she was on edge and ready. The dark fabric pooled around her middle seemed to make her pale skin almost glow. His fingers dance down to the inside of her thigh, moving slightly closer to what she wanted, but not quite coming close enough. “You are such a fucking tease,” she ground out.

“This is the good part. Don’t be in a hurry.”

“I’d rather get fucked.”

“You like this too,” and he gently ran a finger over the spot where she wanted to be touched the most. She swore, body shaking hard. She was hot and wet and _throbbing_ for him. “You are so fucking _hot,_ ” he muttered. He gently parted her folds with his fingers, causing her to draw in a sharp breath, trying to get closer to him. He leaned forward just a little bit, getting his tongue where she wanted, and her hips bucked off the mattress.

“Fuck,” she cried out. She couldn’t see him smiling anymore, but that part didn’t matter. He could see her fingers still working her own tits, and _damn,_ he was hard, pants far too tight right now. But he focused on what he was doing now. He got his tongue around what he wanted and _sucked._ She cried out, voice sounding hoarse and incoherent. This was exactly what she wanted. He slipped a finger in, followed by a second in quick succession. Her legs were shaking and her hips were moving. He started thrusting his fingers in and out, trying to keep up with the rhythm that her hips wanted to settle into. Her skin was turning a pretty shade of pink under all the attention. She felt and tasted amazing. Gods, he loved tasting her, doing this for her, completely making her the center of his attention.

“Scorpio,” she breathed.

He quit using his tongue long enough to ask, “What, beautiful?”

“I just… _more._ ”

That request would be easy to oblige. He got a third finger in, those hot, velvet walls pushing around his fingers. He went back to what he had been doing with his tongue, and he felt her head fall back against the bed. She was almost utterly undone.

In the last year, he learned a lot about what Echidna liked in bed. At first, she came across as pretty wild, into rough and kinky things. He had been happy to meet her appetite, but refused to cross the line into hurting her. Oddly, she hadn’t seemed disappointed when he drew that line. She had a few toys and they’d used them sometimes, but that was no longer their go-to. The first time they made love in the morning, soft and sleepy, sharing breath and space, more about closeness than getting off, she’d snuggled close to him, whispering that she loved him. She hardly ever said she loved him. He found that she liked romance and foreplay. Massages, baths, candles. He could spend hours just running his hands all over her body and she would bask in the attention. She wanted things to be sensual, romantic, but would never admit that she liked having sex that way.

What he had planned for their anniversary would be enough to make her come multiple times over and still ask for more. And all he needed was candles and massage oil.

She was getting close, familiar tension in her body.

Time to wrap this up.

He pressed his tongue firmly against her sweet spot and she swore creatively, body relaxing as she rode out her orgasm.

Breathing heavily, he didn’t bother to fix her dress. Just moved from the floor and onto the bed next to her. He slid an arm around her waist. She turned towards him. But then surprised him when her hands went to his chest and she gently pushed him onto his back. He was still fully dressed, so he wasn’t sure what she was planning to do with him. She sat up gracefully, one leg swinging over his hips, so she was effectively straddling him. The dress was still around her waist and he got one hand on her hip, rubbing the soft skin there.

Then her nimble fingers undid his belt and pants, and she reached inside his shorts, fingers wrapping around him, squeezing, stroking. He was already hard from before, so her attention made him moan involuntarily, fingers squeezing her hips. She pushed his pants and shorts out of the way enough to free his erection. Those fingers held him still, while she positioned herself and then slowly sank down on top of him. _Gods_ , she felt so damn good. He let her take the lead, finding another rhythm that she liked, hips moving enough to meet her, keep her going through the second time. Her head was thrown back, hair loose and cascading down her face and neck, blue and purple strands vibrant against her skin. She was carefree and fucking _beautiful_ like this.

He lifted one hand from her hips, cupping her breast, squeezing a little. Her hands were flat on his chest as she made a noise of pleasure. He kept going kneading the flesh, listening to her pleased sounds, going hard as she moved. One of her hands moved, going under his shirt, hot fingers exploring the skin on his abdomen. The touch damn-near sent him over the edge and he’d been on edge for a while. He got both hands back on her hips, changing their position just enough for him to be able to hit her sweet spot on every thrust. Her noises got louder as she chased her second orgasm. Finally, her body got release, and she squeezed him through her latest climax.

He came within seconds of her, almost at the exact same time, fingers biting into her hips as he came deep inside her. She collapsed onto his chest, breathing erratic for a few moments, before she looked up at him, eyes wide and sparkling.

“Scorpio?” she said softly, hand feeling his chest through his shirt.

“Yeah?” he replied, out of breath.

“I think I like this dress after all.”

\--------------------

“Are you ever going to tell Echidna that you don’t buy the clothes you give her? You’re actually making all the clothes?”

“Why would I tell her that? She thinks I’m a badass.”

“She thinks you’re a giant teddy bear, but keep telling yourself that.”

“Look who’s talking. Doesn’t your daughter paint your nails and put bows in your hair?”

Stinger glowered at him over the worktable. The garage in Stinger’s and Naga’s house was detached, and had a room above, which they had finished out and turned into a workspace for Stinger and all his craft projects. His sewing machine was up there, along with all his supplies. Scorpio had several clothing items he wanted to finish for Echidna before he went over this weekend, but got slammed at work and was running behind. So he asked his brother to help him. And Stinger genuinely was, just also providing running commentary.

His brother chose to ignore he latest comment, and said, “Didn’t she literally ask you where you got the jersey nightgown so she could order more?”

“Yes, and I told her I’d take care of it.”

“She won’t care if you tell her.”

“I know.”

He was glad that he and Stinger had finally been able to come to an agreement, have evenings like _this_ , where they just worked together and got to be friends. A lot of long talks, Stinger admitting he wasn’t being fair, Scorpio admitting he should have been honest about the relationship from the beginning. Stinger was doing _a lot_ better.

He changed the subject with, “Where’s Naga and Mika?”

“In the house,” Stinger replied. “Naga’s had her all day, because I got called in for a consulting job, and he only agreed to let me help you this evening if I handle bath time, bedtime and breakfast tomorrow. So you owe me.”

“What do you want?”

“What I always want.”

“Babysitting,” Scorpio muttered, then sighed. “When?”

“Two weeks from now. Saturday. Just for the day.”

“Where will you and Naga be? The farmer’s market?”

Stinger snorted. “I wish.” He shook his head. “We’ll be presenting at a Rebellion conference.”

“Sounds exciting,” Scorpio said sarcastically.

“Super exciting,” was Stinger’s equally sarcastic response. “Although,” he added, “You could take Mika to the farmer’s market.”

Scorpio considered that for a moment. “That could be fun.”

“Would Echidna go with you?”

“We’d have to go early. She hates crowds.”

Stinger shook his head. “It’s amazing how far she’s come. A year ago, you would have never been able to talk her into going to the farmer’s market. And now, she asked Naga if she could go to the grocery store with him the other day so she could get stuff to make you chocolate chip scones.”

Scorpio smiled. “Yeah, they were pretty good.”

“You two thinking of moving in together?”

He pushed out a breath. “We haven’t talk about it yet.”

“Maybe you should.” Stinger gave him a long look. “I remember the people you dated back on Needle and you didn’t feel nearly as strongly about any of them as you do about Echidna.” He shrugged. “You practically live at her place anyways. I think it’s worth bringing up.”

Stinger’s phone beeped and he glanced at the message, then swore.

“Hurry up,” his brother said. “Naga said dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so that’s all the time we’ve got left.”

And between the two of them, they got everything done.

\--------------------

The argument that led to them moving in together had been particularly stupid, and Scorpio wasn’t proud to admit he started things. They’d been together for a year and a half, seeing each other exclusively, and Echidna was still reluctant to use the term ‘boyfriend’ or ‘partner’ or anything remotely in that vein to describe him. She got evasive when he asked her what she preferred. And her hedging or being evasive meant she didn’t want to tell him the reason. Either because she thought the reason was stupid or thought he might get upset.

_“It’s ridiculous that you won’t call me your boyfriend after a year and a half!”_

_“No, what’s ridiculous is you wasting money on an apartment when all your time and most of your_

_shit is here.”_

_“You want me to move in with you?”_

_“Yes! Then you’d have money for the fucking rice cooker you keep talking about!”_

_“I already have one of those—it’s at my apartment and I keep forgetting to bring it here.”_

_“That’s why it’s ridiculous!”_

_“Are you actually going to call me your boyfriend? I call you my girlfriend!”_

_“Why is that so important?”_

_“We’ve been in a monogamous relationship for a year and a half.”_

_“Yes, that word! I like that word!”_

_“You like the word ‘relationship’ more than the word ‘boyfriend’?”_

_“Yes. Relationship sounds like we’re adults who have kinky sex and a wine fridge. Boyfriend_

_sounds like we’re fucking teenagers, sneaking out past curfew.”_

_“Okay. Okay. We’ll work on a better word. But you really want me to move in here?”_

_“I do. Don’t make me say it again.”_

And that argument led to _this_ , him bringing his few boxes of possessions over to her apartment, and breaking the month to month lease he had at his old place. His apartment had been furnished, so he only had a few pieces of furniture that were actually his—a lamp, end table, nightstand. Echidna was taking meticulous stock of his things and ordering appropriate organizational items. His clothes all fit in the dresser and wardrobe, so she wasn’t concerned about them. The nightstand didn’t match hers, but was functional, so she didn’t care about that either. The kitchen was almost entirely stocked with his things, so the additional stuff did not take up much more cabinet and counter space. His tchotchke was also not an issue for her—not that he had much, but she wasn’t really into decorating, so there was space for a wall hanging or two and the seashell sculpture Naga gave him. She also took a long look at his rabbit plush from childhood and set the animal next to her bear on the chair in the bedroom.

What threw her for a loop was that he had more blankets than she anticipated. So she was trying to find a cabinet or chest to store the extras. But while doing so, she’d gotten cold, so she was currently sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor, one of his quilts wrapped around her shoulders, hunched over her datapad, hair falling into her face.

He finished in the kitchen and then came into the bedroom. Smiling, he went into the bathroom and grabbed her hairbrush. She didn’t even flinch when he knelt behind her and ran the brush through her hair a few times. He separated the hair into two sections and began doing a pineapple braid on one side. “Which one?” she asked, holding up the datapad and showing him two chests.

“The right one,” he replied.

“Do you think it will be big enough?”

“Yes. Not all of them will be in there at once. You seem to like the quilts. You could put them on the back of the couch or the armchair.”

Her expression said she’d not considered that.

He continued braiding as she ordered the chest. She then toggled over to some financial records. “I need to redo all our money,” she muttered. “We’re both only going to pay half the rent and utilities here, so that means we have extra money and need to do _something_ with it.”

“I was thinking a vacation,” he teased, but was also a little serious.

He eyes narrowed. “What kind of vacation?”

He finished the braid, putting a hair tie at the end. He moved on to the other braid. “Some place remote, quiet. Like one of those bungalows on the beach. Your neighbors are far away, but they send room service via drone. Whole beach to yourself. Plus the bungalows are extremely nice. Hot tub, kitchen, living area, the works.”

Echidna thought for a moment, before she said, “I’ve never been to the beach. And I don’t own a bathing suit.” She swore creatively and toggled to a clothing app. “Now I have to buy a goddamned bathing suit.”

“Shouldn’t we book the vacation first?”

She held up a hand to stop the question, and went back to the clothing app. He smiled. Translated: she was onboard with all of this and wanted to do things in whatever insane order made sense to her. Which was ordering a bathing suit first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who had been reading so far! I love writing Kyuranger, because the readers are the BEST! Thanks for your comments, kudos and even hits! I went out on a limb with this one and there's still two chapters to go. Drop me a comment or a kudos, let me know you're out there! You can also find me on tumblr! (I swear I fixed my asks!) THANK YOU SO MUCH!


	5. That Would Be Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpio and Echidna take Mika to the park. Naga announces some news. Other decisions ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with chapter five, dear readers! Thanks for all your feedback and support so far! Enjoy!

**5/ That Would Be Enough**

_Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now…_

“Why is she crying?”

“Because she’s hungry.”

“Shouldn’t you feed her?”

“Yes, once we get to the park and get settled.”

Echidna frowned. Mika was generally a well-behaved kid, but got fussy when she was tired or hungry. Scorpio said that was completely normal, but she was just _stressed_ when the kid got like that. She didn’t really have room to complain or make comments. Scorpio had Mika for a few hours on Saturday. (Naga and Stinger were doing… _something_. Echidna couldn’t remember what, because she hadn’t really been listening when Scorpio told her.) And she had agreed to come along. That was usually fine. Scorpio played with the baby and took care of her. Echidna got snacks and drinks when they needed them and then read galactic economy and finance reports.

“Are you sure?”

Scorpio smiled. “Echidna, she’s two. Two-year-olds fuss for lots of reasons.”

She inwardly thought taking the baby to the park for lunch was a bad idea, but Mika had seemed excited earlier. They could eat, Mika would play on the baby equipment for a while, and then they would go back to the house and Scorpio would put her down for her nap. Naga and Stinger would be back before she woke up from her nap.

Scorpio had the baby in her carrier, one of those sling things that people used to carry their kids. He had Mika facing him and she was still crying. Echidna carried her diaper bag and the cooler with their lunch. (Scorpio probably could have carried all of that, but she wanted to help at least a little.) And he’d already warned her that the park would likely be crowded on a Saturday, but she told him she would suck up and deal with the crowds.

The small park was at the end of Naga’s and Stinger’s street. She smirked as she recalled the time they had sex in the bathroom here. That evening, in general, had not been much fun, but that part certainly had been. Scorpio was always reluctant to have sex in semi-public places, but she’d convinced him a few times. And those times had been _hot_.

But they were watching his niece, so no fun like that. They found a nice spot of grass, far enough away from the playground to eat. People were milling around, but no one seemed like they would run through the spot. Echidna pulled the blanket from the top of the diaper bag and spread it out on the grass. Scorpio gently removed Mika from her carrier and then slipped the thing off his shoulders. She wiped her eyes as he sat down and walked over to him, tiny hands on his arm.

“We eat, Ji-chan?” she asked.

“Yes, we are. Sit down please.” Mika paid attention, sitting down next to him. Echidna could see some other kids running wild out of the corner of her eye. How had Naga and Stinger done such a good job with theirs? She sat down on the blanket with them and opened the cooler. She handed Scorpio the lunch items for Mika—a juice box, a bag of fish-shaped crackers, and a container with some chicken, cheese, fruit and vegetables. Their lunch was similar, just no fish crackers or juice boxes, with some added crisp bread. Mika was wearing striped leggings with a teal tunic top. Her hair was in two braids and her little sneakers were orange. Scorpio opened the juice box for her and she started sipping, reaching to grab more of her lunch.

Echidna handed Scorpio a water bottle and then one of the containers with their food. “You want some of the hummus?” she asked him.

And was surprised when Mika perked up. Scorpio glanced down at his niece and smiled. “She likes hummus too,” he said, and then asked her, “You want to try some, Mika?”

She nodded eagerly.

They continued eating, Echidna watching in fascination as Mika would dip her baby carrots into the hummus and happily eat them. When Mika was done eating, she continued sitting next to Scorpio, waiting until he and Echidna were both done with their food. Once they started packing up the lunch containers, Mika asked, “I go play?”

“Yes, baby girl, just let us pack up this stuff and we’ll watch you play.”

“Ba-chan too?”

“Yes, Ba-chan too.”

Echidna fought the urge to roll her eyes, pull out her phone and send Naga a scathing message about _that_. She repacked the cooler, and then Scorpio folded up the blanket. Once that was stashed on top of the diaper bag, he took Mika’s hand and led her over to the baby playground. Not many kids were on the playground, so Scorpio let her in and they found an empty bench to watch her from.

“Why does she call me that?” Echidna grumbled.

“What? Aunt?”

“Yes. I’m not any relation to her.”

Scorpio smiled, rubbing her back. “You’re around her enough that Naga thought you needed a more casual title.”

“Fucking Naga,” she muttered under her breath.

“You do buy her birthday and Christmas presents.”

“Because _you_ and _Naga_ make me go to her birthday parties, and _you_ insist we spend Christmas with your brother, and I don’t want to be a jerk who didn’t get anything for the baby.” She added, “I said we could stay home on Christmas, spend all day in front of the tree banging, but no.”

“You had fun.”

“Yeah, only because I’m positive Stinger put something stronger than rum in that eggnog.”

A woman pushing a stroller walked by them and said in a friendly tone, “Your daughter is really cute!” She glanced over at Mika, who was digging in the sand and having a serious conversation with another kid in the playground.

Scorpio smiled, but gently corrected with, “Thank you, she’s actually my niece.”

The woman looked surprised. “Wow, she looks exactly like you two.” She shook her head. “Must run in the family. Have a great day!” And the lady was off.

Echidna frowned, suddenly feeling unsettled. Why had that lady thought _they_ were Mika’s parents? Other than the signature gray eyes, Mika looked nothing like anyone else from the Ophiuchus System, and most people missed that Echidna was from there because she kept her hair dyed and nails painted. Maybe that was why, she didn’t look like she was from there anymore. And Mika’s tail was orange, but had a little more black than Stinger’s. She slipped her hand into Scorpio’s.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Why did she think we’re Mika’s parents?”

He smiled, “Because people are unobservant and saw two people out with a toddler and made an assumption. Stinger takes after our mother, and Mika takes after Stinger, meaning she doesn’t look like either of us, and eye color isn’t exactly enough to tie people together.” He squeezed her hand. “It’s just an honest mistake that people will make. Don’t let it worry you.”

Except that the mistake did worry her. She loved Scorpio, but also knew that Naga and Stinger had redone their wills. If anything were to happen to both of them, Scorpio would become Mika’s guardian. She knew the chances of anything happening to both Naga and Stinger was extremely remote, and Scorpio had talked to her before agreeing. She told him that was fine, but only now was she realizing that if Scorpio had custody of the baby, the baby would permanently be in her life too. They lived together, had no intention of going back to living separately. Hell, somedays, she thought if Scorpio asked her to marry him, she’d say yes, drag him to the nearest courthouse. But if they did end up with Mika, she’d have to be able to accept that a child was in her life. Could she do that? She’d never thought about that possibility before.

“You’re still worrying.”

“I just…” Might as well tell him. “What if something did happen to Naga and Stinger and we had to take care of Mika?”

“First, you know that’s not very likely to happen. And second, we would deal with it. Together.”

“How?”

“I don’t know how. We’d have to figure that out if the situation occurred.” She sighed frustratedly. He squeezed her hand again. “I know, you hate unknowns. But that’s just a remote unknown that we’ll have to make peace with.”

Echidna didn’t reply, just leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Five years since she got thrown out of the Ophiuchus System. Two years since she started seeing Scorpio exclusively. Her world seemed to have gotten bigger since he came into her life. She could never have pictured herself doing _anything_ she currently did normally without thinking. Shopping, eating out. She even went to the stupid Ophiuchus System group activities Naga put together. (A bunch of those people had kids now, so there were family outings and ones for adults. She told Naga hell no to the family activities, but she’d see him when only grown-ups were involved.) Now going to the grocery store didn’t even really faze her. (And she swore, all the damn cashiers knew she was their manager’s girlfriend and they fell all over themselves offering coupons and employee discounts.) The anxiety attacks had gotten fewer and farther between.

Mika was starting to drag on the playground a little bit, and Scorpio called her over. She said goodbye to the other kid and came over to him. Echidna watched as he used a wet wipe from the diaper bag to clean her hands and face, and got the carrier back on, getting her settled for the short walk home. Echidna grabbed the diaper bag and cooler.

Once in the house, Scorpio took Mika directly upstairs and got her down for her nap.

Echidna wrapped her arms around herself.

Why was she so damn unsettled?

\------------------

“Beautiful, I know you want me to fuck you, but we won’t have enough time for that and to get ready for dinner. We have to leave in twenty minutes.”

“We can be late. It’s just Stinger and Naga!”

“You really want Naga bitching at you for being late?”

“No.”

“Then let’s go. I will finger you in the shower, and when we get home, I will bend you over the table and fuck you twice, all right?”

“You better,” she grumbled.

The shower was nice, but quick, just teasing, nowhere close to actual completion. At first, she thought she might get bored, having sex with the same man all the time. But they got to know each other and this was about so much more than sex. Because they’d been exclusive all this time, they’d really gotten to know each other’s bodies, what turned them on, what simple teasing act was enough to satisfy the other for later. She got out before him, dried off and quickly blow-dried her hair. She was naked as she stood in the bathroom, braiding her hair. He got out of the shower, dried off, but came up behind her, gently squeezing her breast. She gasped a little, shot of pleasure running straight between her legs. His kissed her shoulder and then went into the bedroom to get dressed. Yeah, that was just a promise about what was to come later.

She followed him into the bedroom and quickly pulled on a pair of panties. The weather had been warm and nice lately, so she decided on a sundress, skipping the bra because she knew that turned him on, and then got the crocheted silver shawl he’d bought her. Refused to tell her where he got the shawl, just if she wanted one in other colors, he’d take care of getting them. Weirdo.

Scorpio was dressed and summoning a transport when she got out of the bedroom. She grabbed her purse and asked, “What place is this?”

He named a steak place.

She groaned. “I hate steak places.”

“This place serves chicken, I checked. I also sent you the menu.”

She pulled her phone from her purse. “Good, reading material in the transport.”

They got to the restaurant exactly on time, and Stinger and Naga were waiting for them in the lobby. “We’re on time,” Scorpio hissed. “Calm down.”

“I am calm,” she snapped back, though she was shaking a little. At least the transport ride had been long enough for her to look at the menu, decide what she wanted and figure out she could say the order without completely tripping over her words.

Naga and Stinger greeted them, and then Naga pulled her into a hug, while Stinger hugged Scorpio. Fucking hell, all the hugging around those two. The hostess told them the table was ready and led them to a table in a corner of the restaurant, a little isolated from the others, which made Echidna feel better (and she had a feeling Naga asked for something like that on purpose.) She picked the chair with her back to the wall and Scorpio sat next to her, Naga on her other side. Scorpio squeezed her knee under the table as they all got settled. Water glasses were already on the table.

Their waiter came by and asked for a drink order.

Naga just stuck with the water, as did Scorpio. Not surprising. Naga wasn’t a big drinker, and Scorpio didn’t drink at all. Echidna wasn’t thinking at all, just said, “Double whiskey” on autopilot. Stinger then got a glass of red wine.

“You already know what you want?” Naga asked her as everyone else looked at the menu.

“Of course,” she grumbled. “Why don’t you people look at the menu in advance? It’s more efficient.”

The waiter came back with their drinks and took their food order. Echidna was pretty proud of herself for not tripping over her words, saying what she wanted, and the waiter didn’t have to ask for clarifications or additions. Scorpio squeezed her knee under the table again. She knew he’d be moving his hand a little further up if he thought he could get away with doing so. But no, Naga or Stinger would see, and Stinger would complain and Naga would be embarrassed.

After the waiter disappeared again, Naga reached over to Stinger, taking his hand. Stinger looked at him, smiling and told them, “We had something we wanted to tell you tonight.”

A sarcastic comment almost came out of her, but she held back.

Naga returned Stinger’s smile and turned to them. “I’m pregnant.”

Scorpio’s reaction was immediate happiness. “Gods, I didn’t even know you were trying. Congratulations! How far along are you?”

“Ten weeks,” Naga replied with a shy smile. He named a due date in the spring.

Echidna just sat there, unable to process much of anything. Her heart was beating faster in her chest and she felt herself begin to shake again. Her breath felt short, chest tight. The walls were closing in and she had to get some air, at least for a minute. Just a moment to _think_.

She stood up abruptly from the table and mumbled, “Bathroom,” before bolting towards the women’s bathroom in the restaurant. Thankfully, the place was one room, so she was able to go into the bathroom, lock the door and slump against the sink.

Why in the actual _fuck_ would Naga get knocked up again? She remembered him being pregnant with Mika. He’d been sick all the damn time the first six months, throwing up at any hour of the day or night, and he looked like his entire body _hurt_. She didn’t remember all the complications, but he ended up on strict bed rest for the last three months of the pregnancy. She’d looked _that_ up and bed rest was _bad_. Meant something was seriously wrong. Mika ended up being two weeks early, but that seemed to relieve Naga and Stinger. She was strong and healthy. And then Naga took _four damn months_ to heal from that birth. She vaguely remembered that Naga had other complications after Mika was born, but he always assured her that nothing was life threatening and he would recover. And he had. Spent his time chasing his daughter who was just over two. How was he going to handle another pregnancy with the same garbage with a toddler in the house?

He was just so _stupid_.

She felt a sob bubble up, followed by another. Why was she crying over some stupid decision Naga had made? But she knew why. Naga was her best friend and pregnancy was hard on Ophiuchus males, and she didn’t want to think about losing him. She didn’t have very many people in her life that she could rely on, and she didn’t want the ones she had to _die_ because of stupid decisions.

Fuck, she was being really selfish right now.

She wiped at her eyes, knowing the only thing to do was put on a happy face and tell Naga this was great news. She hated that. She wasn’t happy. Naga was being stupid.

Someone knocked on the door.

For a split second, she thought that would either be someone who wanted to use the bathroom or Scorpio coming to get her. But realized the knock was neither, when she heard Naga say softly, “Echidna? Can you let me in?”

She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes again. She undid the lock and opened the door. Naga slipped into the bathroom with her, closing and locking the door behind him. He looked concerned about her. “Are you okay?” he asked seriously.

He was asking _her_ that? She snorted and replied, “No, not really.”

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I probably should have told you in a more private place, but I really wanted to take you two out to dinner and I’m really excited.”

“I know you are.”

Echidna turned around, leaning against the sink counter. Naga came next to her, leaning as well. He nudged her a little. “You’re not?”

“No. I’m… worried. You had _a lot_ go wrong last time.”

“I know. One of my doctors is originally from the Ophiuchus System. She’s watched over male pregnancies and births before. She told me the first one would be rough, because my body isn’t programmed to carry a child and I would need to adjust. She also said that typically the pregnancies get easier as they go on. I just had a check-up and she said everything looks great. I mean, the morning sickness is still there, but not as bad as the first time.”

“Why though? You already have a kid. Why have another?”

Naga shrugged. “That’s hard to explain.”

“You just bought into the whole ‘she needs a sibling’ thing?”

That made him laugh a little. “No.” He let out a breath. “We talked about things, talked to my doctor. And I mean, talked about lots of things. How are we going to handle a toddler and a baby, what happens if I end up on bed rest again, should we send Mika to school more days a week, what about when one of us gets called in for a consulting job, and,” he looked at her, “Scorpio does a lot of babysitting for us. Would he still be willing to if there’s two kids and not one?” He sighed. “There’s no good answers and really no good time, and we wanted more children, so now one’s on the way.”

Echidna wasn’t sure what to say to any of that, so she just muttered, “Don’t think I’m going to start babysitting for you.”

Naga smiled and pointed out, “Yet, you come with Scorpio almost every time he watches Mika.”

“Because he normally takes her somewhere and _you’re_ the one that said I should get out more.” She glowered at him. “Scorpio does all the work.” She wasn’t sure why, but she added, “When we took Mika to the park the other day, some lady thought she belonged to us.”

“That’s understandable.” Naga gave her a serious look. “Did it bother you?”

“Yes, because _I_ don’t know how to keep a kid alive.”

“You do fine with Mika.” He gave her a sidelong look. “You ever thought about it?”

“About what?”

“Having a kid?”

Echidna rolled her eyes. “Just because I wasn’t allowed to have a kid in the Ophiuchus System doesn’t mean I’m going to pop out a kid here.”

“Just saying, if you decide that’s what you want, Scorpio won’t be opposed to it.”

She snorted. Looking away, she said softly, “You know, the first emotion I ever really experienced was rejection. I know losing people isn’t the same thing, but to me, it feels the same. Like I’m just going to wake up back in that room at the refugee center, alone and no one caring if I live or die.”

“Echidna,” Naga said softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “You aren’t alone. I’m not going anywhere. And you know Scorpio’s not. I think he’d be willing to kill a bunch of people for you.”

“I want to help you, but I don’t know how.”

“That’s easy. Just be my friend. We’ll go get ice cream or coffee. If you don’t have a work project, you can come over while Mika’s in school or I can go to your apartment. Just be there.” He paused. “You don’t have to do anything special.”

“I could make scones?”

Naga smiled. “Scorpio said you make good scones.”

“They might not be good. He might be lying to spare my feelings.”

“I doubt it. Make some and I’ll try them. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Naga’s phone beeped. He pulled the device out of his pocket and said, “Looks like our food is at the table.” He looked at her. “Feel better?”

She nodded. “Just let me wash my face and I’ll be there.”

“All right. And Echidna?”

She gave him a questioning look.

“It’s really going to be all right. I promise.”

\------------------

The night was like any other, she supposed. Three years. They’d been together for three years and had fallen into a routine. They’d had sex that morning—the soft, sleepy kind, just waking up, sharing breath and space, closeness more than anything else. She hadn’t always liked that kind, found it boring and too slow, not enough stimulation to get off. But now, she enjoyed the reliability, the routine, the _intimacy_ that showed in those moments.

He had gone to shower, and left her to fall back asleep for half an hour. Which she did, snuggled into the soft, warm blankets piled on the bed. She hated being cold, and even though he ran hot, he tolerated the throw blankets everywhere and multiple covers on their bed. Their compromise with the climate controls was simple—things would be at the temperature she wanted from eight in the morning until ten at night. Then those ten hours at night were colder on purpose, the temperature he wanted. (At that low, she would freeze if she were in bed by herself. Even if she was livid with him before bed, she still needed to wrap herself around him for basic survival.)

He made breakfast, and she crawled out of bed at the tempting smell of eggs and turkey sausage. At that point, the climate controls were a bearable temperature for her, so she just slipped into the short silky robe he’d given her a few months ago. He went to work, and she finally showered and got dressed for the day, which she spent huddled over her computer in the corner of the living room that was her office.

He got home around six, and she only momentarily glanced at the security alert. Dinner, which he made, and she was starving because she’d forgotten to eat lunch. He seemed to realize that, as he put extra food on her plate. They’d cleaned up from dinner and now _this_.

She rested her hands on his chest as leverage as she rode him. One of his hands was around her waist, keeping her steady. The other was running up and down her body, tracing her lips, teasing her breasts, fluttering along her abdomen, trailing down to her hips, fingers running through the silky hair there, and then reaching further, rubbing her clit, and then back up again. He pulled her down for a ragged kiss that was messy and wet, and hit all the right buttons. She gasped as she came up, slamming her hips down, keeping him deep where she wanted him.

“Echidna,” he breathed.

She looked down, focusing her eyes on his. A slight smile was quirking his lips. “Scorpio?” she asked. When he continued to smile, she prompted, “What?”

“Nothing,” he replied softly, free hand going back to trace her cheekbone. She turned her head, pressing a kiss to his palm. “Just you.”

She felt herself return the smile.

Scorpio pulled her down for another uncoordinated kiss. He ran his tongue against hers and through her entire mouth, before pulling back and quipping, “Are you still mad about earlier this week?”

“No,” she gasped as he thrust in _just_ right, hitting her clit. “We figured it out, didn’t we? And I’m still fucking you!”

“Gods,” he growled. “The mouth on you.”

The fight earlier in the week had been ridiculous. She couldn’t even really remember all the details now. Something stupid about him taking both his nieces for a few hours one evening, even though the little one, Kaliya, was only three months old. She was probably annoyed because he said yes without asking her first. Not that she had an extensive social calendar, but he knew she liked to mentally prepare for things. Hence her annoyance, and she knew he’d simply forgotten and would not forget the next time. (Because he really did love both his nieces and loved spending time with them.)

“You know what I want?” she asked, biting back a moan.

“To be bent over the kitchen table and fucked until you can’t walk?”

“Shut-up. You know I always want that.” She tweaked his nipple, making his mouth drop open with pleasure. “I was talking about ice cream.”

“We don’t have ice cream.”

But he was grinning when she sarcastically replied, “Yeah, I know. It’s too cold and makes me too cold.” She slammed her hips down, one hand holding his wrist in place as his fingers searched between her legs. “But I love it anyways, so I’ll just have to eat it sitting in your lap.”

His grin turned positively shit-eating. “Are you going to be wearing underwear while eating this ice cream?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Just thought you’d be nice and warm if I ate you out while you ate the ice cream.”

She tweaked his nipple again—harder. “You know what? Fuck you, that sounds kind of fun.”

“What flavor do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

And then both his hands were on her waist, and he quickly flipped their positions. She wrapped both legs around his waist as he slammed home, and she made a strangled noise, back pressing against the sheets. She was so hot, throbbing hard, juices dripping down her thighs. Her nipples were rock hard and almost hurt from the intensity. Sweat rolled down her back. She threaded her fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck and pulled him down for a bruising kiss.

This was it—they were both close. Time to wrap this up, get her dessert and go again.

Her orgasm ripped through her, seeming to go one for a long time, leaving her breathless and limp, dropping her legs. Scorpio came seconds after her as he thrust in once more. So close to coming together, merely seconds off. They were usually able to come within seconds of each other, and coming together had gotten more frequent over the years.

His breath was hot on her neck, heartbeat slowing back to normal as he pulled out and she wrinkled her nose at the mess down her legs. He lifted himself off her and settled by her side. A wave of cold hit her and she snuggled against his chest. He reached towards the nightstand and grabbed his phone.

“What are you doing?” she asked, yawning.

“Getting your ice cream, beautiful.”

She wanted to enjoy the afterglow a little more. But she also wanted to clean up so she could really enjoy sitting in his lap and eating ice cream. So she just kissed him and rolled out of bed, padding into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

When she came out, wrapped in her short, silky robe, he wasn’t in bed. Sheets were still rumpled, but putting fresh ones on before they went to sleep wouldn’t take long. She found him in the kitchen, wearing a pair of black boxer shorts.

“Ice cream will be here in twenty-three minutes,” he said, meeting her as she entered the room. His fingers loosened the tie on the robe, dark eyes burning into her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, unable to stop the hitch in her voice.

“Just checking to see if your underwear is off.”

Smirking, she brushed his fingers away and undid the tie herself, letting the robe fall open, slipping off one shoulder. The challenge came out of nowhere, but she said, “Think you can get me off before the ice cream gets here?”

“Echidna, beautiful, I will get you off twice.”

And he did exactly that, the first time bending her over the table and pounding into her from behind, clever fingers teasing her breasts and her sweet spot. The second time they just fucked on the table, which they’d done before and knew the table would hold. Just as they finished up the second time, she could hear the alert that the drone had arrived with the ice cream. Breathless, he pulled his shorts back on and retrieved the package from the front door. She sat up on the table, robe around her shoulders. He put the ice cream in the freezer and turned, smirking at her splayed legs and the mess all over the table.

“Shower?” he offered, grabbing her hands and tugging her off the table.

“Fuck yes,” she muttered.

“I’ll clean up in here. Join you in a minute.”

She got a hand on his waist, pulling him close for a lingering kiss. He responded, the kiss slow and gentle, the edge off for the evening. She whispered against his lips, “I might be wearing underwear after all when the ice cream happens.”

He grinned. “You can wear anything and still be fuckable.”

She kissed him again and headed into the bathroom. She got the shower on and a good temperature, a little hotter than he liked, but he could deal with that. A minute or two later, he got into the shower with her, arms around her waist, lips against her neck.

Just an ordinary evening for them.

They got out of the shower and dried off. He dressed in a pair of soft black lounge pants and she pulled on a short gray nightgown, made of comfortable jersey fabric. (She loved this nightgown, had a few in different colors, but this was another one of Scorpio’s weird ‘bought her the first one, but won’t tell her where it came from’ things. But he produced more in other requested colors, so she wasn’t going to think too hard about that.)

He headed towards the kitchen. Her phone was beeping with alerts, so she grabbed the thing off the nightstand and scrolled through them. Naga posted another damn picture of his kids on his socialweb account, a utility bill was ready to view, she had some coupons to a clothing store and… she frowned, an implant alert. Her birth control implant was multi-functional and had an app. Usually, the data just confirmed the thing was on and working (preventing pregnancy in people with that ability, diseases, basically ensuring all sex she had was safe sex.) She opened the alert. Her heart froze for a moment. The thing was off. Had been off for a few hours due to a system glitch. Scorpio didn’t have an implant and they never saw the need for him to get one. Hers had never malfunctioned in the six years she’d had the thing. Her chest felt tight. This was bad.

She read the alert and read it again.

She went into the kitchen. Scorpio was pulling one container of ice cream from the freezer. “Hey, beautiful,” he was saying. “You want chocolate sundae or—” He stopped abruptly at the expression on her face and shoved the ice cream back in the freezer. “What’s wrong?”

He crossed the room to her immediately. She was holding her phone too tightly.

“What happened?” he asked.

She shook her head. She’d almost forgotten what a damned anxiety attack felt like. Her chest was too tight and drawing in a breath _hurt_. She was shaking and flushed and wanted to run away, but she was in her apartment with nowhere to run to.

He gently pulled her into the living room and got her to sit on the couch. His fingers brushed her hair away from her face. “Echidna, talk to me,” he said softly. “What’s going on?”

Finding her voice, she ground out, “Implant’s been off for a few hours.”

He frowned. “If they just turn it back on, everything will be fine, right?”

She nodded.

“Then what’s the issue?”

How to explain all her jumbled thoughts around _this_ , what had been running through her head for the last year, how _confused_ she’d been ever since Naga announced he was having a second kid. He’d gone through the pregnancy and birth much more easily this time, and she found herself getting less and less afraid for him as time went on. And the baby was three months old now. No one had offered her the baby, because they were still under the impression she didn’t like kids. Which she really didn’t like kids, but a remote part of her itched to hold that baby. She loved watching Scorpio interact with his nieces. He’d make a great father, both girls adored him.

“You ever think about what you’re leaving behind in the world?” she whispered.

Scorpio reached out, taking her hand. He ran his thumb over her knuckles. “All the time,” he replied, voice wistful. “I know I have you, Stinger, my nieces, built a decent life for myself over the last few years. But I think about Jark Matter and what I did and wonder if _that_ is really going to be my legacy.”

“I worry about dying alone,” Echidna whispered, blinking back tears. “I think about, what if I end up alone and no one even knows I died. They find my corpse weeks or months later.” She shook her head. “And then I think about everything I did back in the Ophiuchus System and wonder if that’s what I deserve.”

“Both of us were just doing what we were told.”

“I know that. And I know it’s not our fault. Doesn’t change the way I feel.”

“No. It doesn’t.” He gave her a searching look. “If you leave the implant off, you could get pregnant.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you hesitating to turn it back on?”

She looked at him. “Maybe that’s what I want.”

Scorpio moved back a little, expression disbelieving. “You want to have a baby?”

She shrugged. “I just… they don’t stay babies forever. Mika’s actually kind of fun to be around now that she’s three and able to do stuff.”

“Echidna, you’ve _never_ expressed interest in having kids before.”

“Kid, singular,” she snapped back. “I’m not signing up for a subscription service here.” She looked at him and he was still incredulous. “Do you not want to have a kid?”

“Of course I want a kid,” Scorpio replied immediately. “But I also love you and want to spend my life with _you_ , and _you_ have never wanted kids. I don’t want to have a baby unless both of us are completely sure that’s what we want.”

She shrugged, looking away.

“Echidna, look at me.” She reluctantly turned to face him. “Where is this coming from?”

She sighed. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, almost a year, ever since Naga announced Kaliya. But everyone just assumed I still dislike kids and I never knew how to bring it up.” She sighed. “Babies still seem terrible, but like I said, they do grow up.”

“You have to care for a baby as much as an older kid.”

“I know,” she retorted. “I’m not going to _not_ take care of the baby.”

Scorpio sighed in turn. “Echidna, you know I am on board for this. I want to know that you are completely sure this is what you want.”

“I think so,” she whispered.

“That’s not a positive yes.”

She read the message from the app again. “This says I can turn the implant back on after having sex for up to a week and I won’t experience any side effects.” Meaning, any diseases picked up in that time would be eradicated and the implant would effectively end any would-be pregnancies before they actually began.

“I’ve never known you to dive headfirst into something,” Scorpio muttered.

“Honestly, I will overthink this and never end up doing it if I don’t just jump in.”

His smile turned wry, “Yeah, I think that’s a good strategy for you.” His expression turned serious. “Look, this is a big decision, and there are things I want in first place before _I_ agree to a baby.”

“What’s that?”

“We get married. Preferably as soon as possible, especially if you don’t want to turn the implant back on and start trying now.” She figured he’d want that. “And we can’t raise a child in a one-bedroom apartment, as nice as this place is. We at least need an apartment with a second bedroom, but I would much prefer a house with a yard. Which we can afford.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, we can buy a house outright and not have a mortgage.”

“How are you with those things?”

She thought for a moment, then replied, “Yes, I will marry you, whenever you want. And does the house have to be in Naga’s and Stinger’s neighborhood? Because you know they’ll be over all the time and I do _not_ want to hear about some cute lunch your brother packed for Mika.”

“I judge my brother for that too, and no, the house doesn’t necessarily need to be, but I do not want to rule it out just yet. They have pretty good rates in that neighborhood, plus the houses have more floorspace and less unnecessary amenities.”

“Fine, but if we end up in their neighborhood and they get annoying, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

“I would never dream of that.”

A week. One week to make a decision. Echidna knew, if she didn’t say yes to this now, there was a good chance she was never going to. And that was okay, right? They didn’t have to have kids to be productive members of society? But this was something she never would have been able to do back in the Ophiuchus System, and didn’t even want to do it here until she met Scorpio.

She didn’t know _at all_.

\------------------

They got married a few days later at the local courthouse. Naga and Stinger came to witness the ceremony and both kept their mouths shut about how rushed everything seemed to be. Granted, they probably chalked that up to her normal style of wanting everything in an ass backwards order. Scorpio made their rings—plain silver bands with etching on the inside. She thought the etching was just pretty waves, but closer inspection showed they were a snake and a scorpion intertwined. She hadn’t even really been fully aware he could make jewelry until those rings, and now she wondered if any of the other pieces of jewelry he’d given her had been handmade.

They went out to lunch with Stinger and Naga, who then gave them their gift—a weekend at a luxury hotel in town. Suite with a hot tub, fireplace, full room service, the works. Scorpio had managed to get that weekend off from work, and she just told her company she’d be unable for a few days. (But she was weeks ahead on her research, so no one cared if she left.)

Now, they walked into the suite and stopped.

“Fucking hell, did they get a Kyuranger discount?”

Scorpio shook his head. “Probably. Also, don’t question gifts.” He put their bags down by the bed and looked at the gift basket on the bench at the foot of the bed. He let out a low whistle, “Also someone at this hotel think you’re getting wine drunk this weekend.”

Echidna rolled her eyes. “Probably Stinger.” She kicked off her shoes. “Is there anything _fun_ in that basket? Like some massage oil? Or some lube?”

“No, just wine and snacks.”

“What kind of snacks?”

“Cheese, crackers, salami, chocolate-covered dried fruit.”

“Even the food is fussy.” She flopped down on the bed, rolling to her back. “We’re really here so you can fuck me until I forget my name. So get over here.”

He smiled, toeing out of his own shoes and coming over to the bed. He laid down next to her, gently pushing her hair from her face. “Do you want the wild stuff first? Or do you want me to make love to you first to take the edge off?” His hand moved to the hem of her shirt, moving under the fabric. His warm fingers smoothed over her stomach, tracing her ribs and then gently teasing the underside of her left breast. So yeah, when they’d gotten home to throw a few things together for _this_ , she’d taken off the bra and let that be a surprise for him. Great thing about small tits—she could get away with that. His hand moved, completely cupping her breast, fingers gently massaging the flesh. His thumb flicked across her nipple. The teasing was so familiar, but _so good_.

She bit back a gasp. “Get the lotion,” she said hoarsely. “I want you to do that thing with the lotion to my tits, and then we can make love.”

He grinned, sitting up. He stripped off his shirt and went to their bag, locating the fruit-scented lotion. He took off his pants and socks, getting down to just his shorts. She sat up, returning the smile and slipped off her top. She slid off the leggings, revealing she didn’t have any panties either. He shook his head, and then tossed out, “You can’t touch yourself until I’m done.”

“You are not any fun.”

He leaned over her on the bed, quickly kissing her. “You know the sex is better that way.”

“I know. Now get over here and do something about this.”

\------------------

They were laying in the bed late the next night, completely worn out and spent. She only ever felt this way after a weekend of really good sex, and now that she was thinking about this, she only got this relaxed and blissed out after sex with Scorpio. Her jersey nightgown at ended up around her waist, tits out, everything exposed. Scorpio was naked, lying next to her. He gently squeezed her breast and then ran his hand between her legs, fingers stroking the sensitive and tender flesh. She made a small noise, moving a little closer. His hand moved to her ass, pulling her a little closer.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She reached between their bodies, hand cupping and very lightly squeezing him. She released him quickly as he made a satisfied noise.

As gracefully as she could given how tired she was, she shimmied out of the nightgown, pushing the garment over her hips and kicking the thing to the floor. She snuggled up against his chest. His hand ran down her side, stopping at her waist. He gently reached for her hand with her wedding ring, fingers tracing the metal, like he was in awe this had happened.

“Are you surprised we got married?” she asked softly.

He looked a little vulnerable when he said, “Yes,” and added, “I didn’t think this was ever going to happen.”

“You didn’t ask,” she pointed out, but with no ire, no annoyance.

“You once told me that marriage was for idiots.”

“That was _two years_ ago. I like to think I’ve grown as a person since then.” But she knew where his mind was with this. She’d surprised herself with how quickly she let him into her life and he just _fit_. No odd edges, taking the sting out of the loneliness. From the beginning, he’d been willing to put up with her and all her bullshit, and knew she hated change. Or at the very least, needed time to mentally prepare for a big change to their lives and routine. Now, she’d potentially just thrown a wrench into the stability and predictability she’d come to adore. Change wasn’t bad, but this was huge.

He pulled her close. “I’m glad we’re married,” he whispered.

“Me too,” and surprisingly, she was. She knew on every level that their relationship was permanent. They both knew they were in this for the long haul. But this felt… official. She ran a hand down his chest, fingers dancing along his skin. She let out a long breath. “We have a lot of very sexy financial stuff to take care of.”

He smiled. “What did you have in mind?”

“I mean, we’re joint on a lot of things now, but should probably make that official on everything.”

“We should.”

Scorpio told her once that a lot of couples fought about money, didn’t want to talk about how much the other one made. Which she thought was utterly weird. Why was any of that a point of contention? The salary one made was the salary one made, and they needed to share complete financial information in order to make informed decisions. Scorpio had been a little hesitant at first when she asked, but now knew that she knew more about their combined finances. Oh, he wasn’t in the dark. He knew their assets. Well… he knew _most_ of their assets. _Theirs_.

His voice was soft when he changed the subject with, “Are you still thinking about leaving the implant off and trying for a baby right now?”

She frowned. “That’s such a weird phrase.”

“What? ‘Trying for a baby’?”

“Yeah, like it’s a slot machine.”

He rubbed her side. “Some people have trouble conceiving.”

“I know.” She paused, sighing. “Tuesday is the one week deadline, right? There’s still a little bit of time to decide.”

Scorpio nodded, and then tossed out, “You think we already managed it?”

Echidna saw the question for what it was—a joke. She wrinkled her nose. “I mean, we are fucking amazing, but I did read that it can take up to ten months.” She pushed out a breath. “Can we talk about this when we get home? I want to enjoy one last night in this room.”

“When we get home,” he agreed. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and then whispered, “What do you want to do now?”

She stretched. “Soak in the hot tub. Then go to bed.”

He smiled. “Sounds perfect.” Another quick kiss and he grabbed the room’s datapad, choosing a temperature for the hot tub and then some powders for the water.

While he was doing that, Echidna reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her phone. She’d put the thing on silent, but knew she’d have messages and notifications to clear. Might as well clear those before the morning. Most were completely normal things. Naga wanting to know how their weekend was going. She resisted the urge to be lewd and just told him things were great. Discount code for a restaurant. Notifications from the Ophiuchus System group message board. And another notification from the implant software.

Frowning, she opened the notification.

“Scorpio?”

He was setting the datapad back on the nightstand, sitting up a little. “Tub will be ready in three minutes,” he said, then caught her expression. “What’s wrong?”

She showed him the notification on the app.

_There is a possibility you might be pregnant. Please consult your doctor_.

He looked from the notification to her, and then back again, clearly struggling for words, and landed on, “That was fast.”

“Told you we’re fucking amazing,” she muttered.

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

And that was true. She didn’t know what she wanted to do. On the one hand, she could turn the implant back on. They could live in the apartment, like they always had, go back to the routine, things would be safe, secure. But _she’d_ brought up something different, moving into _something_ else. They’d never explicitly talked about having kids, but she knew that was something Scorpio would jump on the chance to have. She wasn’t worried about _him_ with a kid. He’d be loving and tough and set boundaries, and any kid of his would be as well-behaved, if not more well-behaved, than his nieces. The kind of parent where his kids would always know that they could come to him with _anything_. The wild card in all of this was _her_. Could she handle a baby? Handle a defiant toddler? Be on the same page with him with all that parenting stuff? She didn’t know. She honestly didn’t know. If she changed her mind, would she be taking something away from him? Could they even go back to the way things were a few days ago?

“Do you think I’d be a bad parent?” she asked.

Scorpio blinked. “No. I don’t think you’d be a bad parent at all. You’d read all the books, take all the parenting classes. I think you’d be worried and overprotective.” He cupped her cheek, thumb tracing her cheekbone. “But you also like things a little wild, so you’d let your kid explore, as long as whatever the thing they wanted to do was age appropriate and they were safe.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He kissed her. “We said we’d talk about it when we got home and we will. Let’s just enjoy the hot tub and go to bed.”

“Okay.”

She was still undecided about any of this, but sinking into the warm water, in his arms, she began to feel a little better. If she went forward, they were in this together, right?

\------------------

The entire apartment was quiet at this hour of the night. She should have made the decision about turning the implant back on or not hours ago, before they went to bed. Scorpio seemed exhausted, but she knew a large part of that was her indecision. If she picked something, he’d be able to start processing and making plans, coming to terms with whatever she decided. If she turned the implant back on, he wouldn’t leave her. He’d be sad for a while, might insist they move into a house anyways or they babysit his nieces a lot more, but he’d figure out how to move forward.

She didn’t know if she would.

She tried to tell herself, turning the implant on now meant nothing. She could turn the thing off at any time and they could have a baby. They could take this one thing at a time. They got married, maybe they could get a house next, and then start the baby thing. No rush, right? Except she knew she’d talk herself out of the baby, ultimately become paralyzed with decision making and not be able to make a decision about any of this.

And the really stupid part? She couldn’t stop thinking about what Stinger and Naga would think about her having a baby. Oh, Naga would be thrilled, and want to bring her into all the parenting playgroups and message boards, get her to make friends with the other parents, especially the other Ophiuchus parents, and be planning playdates and coffee for the parents. Stinger would be happy for his brother, but would be worried about _her_ as a parent. (He and Scorpio would get into a fight about her. Stinger would make some snide comment about her leaving Scorpio with the baby, and Scorpio would get pissed off that his brother would think that. Maybe a punch or two. Hug and make-up.) Stinger would be a _pain in the ass_ about the whole thing.

Then again, she didn’t really care what Stinger thought.

She was sitting on the floor of the bedroom. Scorpio had gone to bed some time ago, asking her if she’d be there soon. She’d nodded tightly.

Sighing he drew her into his arms and whispered, _“Echidna, I cannot make this decision for you. I want a child more than anything and I know you would be an amazing parent. But I can’t do this if you don’t also want this as much as I do. Whatever decision you make, I’ll find peace with it. I just need to know that this is what you want.”_

He’d kissed her sweetly, then squeezed her hand. She nodded at him to go ahead and go to bed. And then ended up waiting until she was fairly certain he’d be asleep.

He wasn’t quite asleep, breathing indicating he was dozing and not actually out.

Oh well, she was being quiet, just sitting in the dark room, hunched over her phone.

_Are you sure you want to restart the implant?_

The choices were bright and glowing in the dark. Green ‘Yes’ button. Red ‘No’ button.

She wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek.

If she didn’t do this now, she never would.

But what if this was too much and she ran away? Confirming exactly what people thought of her?

But Scorpio would be there and he wouldn’t let her get overwhelmed. And if she told him about the actual state of their finances, they might make some decisions that would make childcare an even split, no one the primary caregiver. She didn’t know how to bring _that_ up either.

She furiously wiped away another tear.

This was _stupid_.

Either she wanted a kid or she didn’t. And she hadn’t been exaggerating that Mika was a lot more fun now that she was older. Since Kaliya had been born, Scorpio had been careful to take Mika out by herself, making sure she still got some one-on-one attention. Echidna had gone with them when they went to a little fair that set up during the spring and summer. Too many damn people, but Scorpio had taken Mika on all the kiddie rides and the carousel, and she had so much fun. Scorpio and Mika failed miserably at one of those shooting carnival games, until Echidna stepped in and won them a huge stuffed animal. A giant orange bunny. That Mika loved. (She still had the teddy bear Echidna had gotten her when she was born, and she was proud of that fact for some reason.)

She heard shuffling behind her and Scorpio was getting out of bed. He sat behind her on the floor, drawing her between his legs, arms wrapped around her waist. His chin was on her shoulder. He didn’t say anything, just held her tightly.

Fuck it. She _did_ want a kid. And if she didn’t do it now, she never would.

_Are you sure you want to restart the implant?_

She pressed ‘no.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to 8bitstrawberrie for helping me name Stinger's and Naga's second daughter! (She's the best at naming characters!) Also, big THANK YOU to everyone who has comments, left kudos, sent asks on tumblr... you guys are awesome! I love Kyuranger readers! Let me know you're out there! 
> 
> One chapter left to go!


	6. Give the World to You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is gross. Everything about pregnancy is gross.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, everyone, last chapter! I hope you all enjoy! (More notes at the end!)

**6/ Give the World to You**

_We’ll bleed and fight for you, we’ll make it right for you._

“This is gross. Everything about pregnancy is gross.”

Echidna dropped her datapad on the couch next to her and shoved the device away from her. She rubbed her temples, trying to assess how she felt. _Gross_. She’d been to her doctor more times in the last two months than in the last six years. Since she had an implant, the implant immediately confirmed a potential pregnancy, but the doctor wanted to monitor for a few weeks to make sure said pregnancy was viable. At the last appointment, she’d said everything looked good, ten weeks along. Scorpio was itching to start telling people and Echidna firmly told him no. She wasn’t ready for that yet. She didn’t look any different, and other than the tendency to feel nauseous spontaneously, she was more or less fine.

“Maybe we should make an appointment with Naga’s doctor?” Scorpio suggested, coming into the living room from the kitchen.

“No,” she said automatically.

“I think it’s a good idea.”

“My doctor said it’s not necessary. I’m fully female. She said she’s going to do some research to check on a few things, but she said it will be fine.”

“But what if—”

“Scorpio, I said no. Do not bring it up again.” She reached out and grabbed her datapad, pulling the device towards her again and waved the thing around. “Also, quit sending me informational articles on pregnancy. One, I can find them myself and, two, I do not want a blow by blow of actually birthing the baby yet.”

He looked a little bit wounded. She knew he was just trying to help, but this massive overprotective streak that was popping up was reminding her uncomfortably of his brother. And he needed to nip that in the bud before she went fucking nuts. He wanted second opinions from doctors, he wanted to make sure she was eating all the right foods, had all the vitamins… Fucking hell, she had all that information from her doctor and none of the new restrictions were that serious. Most of the stuff she didn’t eat anyways, she wasn’t a coffee drinker, and alcohol had gotten way less for her over the years anyways.

Plus they hadn’t had sex in a week and _that_ pissed her off.

She took a deep breath. “Scorpio, can you sit with me for a minute?”

Still a little bit hurt, but he came over to the couch anyways and sat down next to her. He gently took her hand, thumb running over her knuckles.

“Look,” she said evenly. “I love you. I want to raise a kid with you. But know how your brother turns into an overprotective ass from time to time and tries to micromanage Naga or you or one of his kids? And then someone slaps some sense into him? You are doing that now. Do not try to put me on a special weird diet, do not send me articles unless I ask you to, and my doctor has already given me all the vitamins. Just let me be me. And feel _normal_.”

He looked stricken. “I’m sorry.”

“I know. And I know you want to help. Up until now you always asked me how you can help. Keep doing that, please.” She squeezed his hand. “Just use your brother as a barometer. If you or Naga would be mad at Stinger for something you’re about to do, don’t do it.”

He smiled wryly. “Stinger’s not that bad.”

“Let’s agree to disagree on that one.”

He nodded and then sighed. “I never thought I’d get to be a parent.”

She gave him a long look. “I know. And I know you’re excited. I’m just not ready for the world to know yet, and I am _really_ not ready for an onslaught of supposedly helpful advice from Naga.”

“We can’t hide it forever.”

She smiled and asked sarcastically, “You don’t want to just go on a vacation for the next seven months and come back with a baby to surprise everyone with?”

He returned her smile, looking a little less hurt.

“And,” she added, “my doctor says we can continue to have sex like we normally would practically until the baby is born. I just need to go with whatever position is most comfortable for me.” He looked confused. She narrowed her eyes and said bluntly, “We haven’t had sex in a week. That’s not normal for us.”

A lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. “You just haven’t been feeling well.”

“Okay, I’m not barfing twenty-four hours a day. Also, I will tell you if I don’t want to have sex, kind of like you’ll tell me the same thing.”

“You really want to have sex right now?”

“Not right this second, because we have to go to your brother’s house for dinner in like fifteen minutes, but when we get back tonight, yes, I do.” She sighed. “Do not do something weird like put me on a pedestal. And I will be _pissed_ if our sex life doesn’t survive this baby.”

_That_ seemed to resonate with him, because he got a familiar grin on his face, hand dancing up her thigh a little bit. “We could always cancel on my brother and Naga.”

“Tempting, but didn’t you pinky promise your niece you’d be there?”

He groaned theatrically. “Can’t renege on promises to a three-year-old.”

She stood up and took his hand, leading him into the bedroom, and saying, “You can at least help me get dressed and get a little groping in there.”

He smiled as they got to the bedroom and did enough to indulge her that she knew he would actually be on board when they got home. _Finally_. She just wanted some normalcy. Everything had been so hectic and _stupid_ the last few weeks. Scorpio had been bordering on treating her like she was going to break and she hoped their talk that afternoon would snap him out of _that_ nonsense.

The evening was nice so they decided to walk over to Stinger’s and Naga’s house.

And she found herself painfully aware of the two ‘For Sale’ signs they passed.

At the front walk, she grabbed his hand and hissed, “We are not telling them yet.”

“I know,” he replied. “I know. You’ve only told me five times.”

“I am so serious—”

“Echidna,” he interrupted her, expression serious. “I know. I am not going to do anything against your wishes. Trust me, please.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s a lot. Let’s just go eat dinner. Stinger said something about chicken spaghetti and you know that’s really good.”

She leaned forward, grabbing a quick kiss that he eagerly returned. “Fine,” she whispered.

Scorpio did his normal move of knocking and then letting them into the house. And a wall of noise hit her almost immediately. Someone had music going in the kitchen, the baby was in her highchair fussing a little bit, and Naga was chasing down Mika who was joyfully shrieking about something. Mika caught sight of them and immediately changed her course, crying, “Ji-chan! Ba-chan!” and came directly at them for a hug.

Echidna smiled a little as Scorpio immediately got down on his knees and wrapped her up in a giant hug, lifting her off the ground a little bit. “Hi baby girl,” he said, kissing her cheek. He straightened and picked Mika up with him. “You ready for dinner?” She nodded and then reached out, patting Echidna’s shoulder.

“Hi Ba-chan,” she said with a grin.

“Hi Mika,” she replied.

Naga looked exhausted, but smiled at them. “Welcome,” he said to them, and then to Scorpio, “Do you mind getting her in her chair? She’s been fidgety all afternoon.”

“Not a problem.” Scorpio carried Mika into the dining room, talking to her about dinner and playing games after dinner. He completely had her attention and she was giggling. Honestly, she’d never had any doubts about Scorpio in this situation, only herself.

She glanced at the still fussing baby. “Why’s that one crying?” she asked Naga.

“Kaliya? She’s just hungry.”

“Shouldn’t you feed her?”

He smiled. “Yes, but she needed to wait a minute. Won’t hurt her. She’s completely safe.” He looked over at his baby. “I’ll get her bottle during dinner.”

Echidna nodded absently and then said without thinking, “Can I feed her?”

Naga looked utterly shocked, but said, “Sure. I can show you how to feed her.”

“How old is she now?”

“Five and a half months.”

“When does she start eating solid food?”

“She’s already started some baby food and other stuff in addition to her formula.” Naga shook his head, gently grabbing her wrist. “Echidna, why all the questions?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m around your kids all the time and I know nothing about them,” but she was filing away all his answers for later.

But Naga still asked, “Are you okay?”

She fixed him with a glare and rolled her eyes. “I’m _fine_.”

“If you need to talk about something, I’m here.”

“Naga, I say this with all due respect, _go away_.”

He shook his head, smiling. “Fine. Let’s go sit down. You can give Kaliya her bottle and then watch her eat baby food by osmosis.”

She followed him into the dining room. Scorpio had gotten Mika into her booster seat at the dining room table. She mostly just ate what the adults ate now and was definitely not a picky eater. Scorpio sat next to her, talking to her about what she did at school. Stinger was bringing food to the table. Echidna took the chair next to Scorpio (Mika was on the end). Naga sat at the other end, the baby taking up the spot next to him. Stinger sat down on Mika’s other side, keeping an eye on Kaliya.

Naga was explaining how to give the baby her bottle, but Echidna hardly heard him. Her eyes were on the tiny baby—she’d been even smaller not that long ago. Now she was moving around, sitting up on her own, wide-eyed, curious, smiling. If Mika was their scorpion baby, then Kaliya was their snake baby. She looked exactly like a baby from the Ophiuchus System, except for her big brown eyes.

Kaliya and Mika made her wonder what her baby would look like.

She was far too early for any scans to tell her more, but she hoped the baby wouldn’t get the silver Ophiuchus hair. In fact, if the baby looked completely like Scorpio, she’d be fine with that. Her doctor was a little concerned about the birth process and the baby potentially having a scorpion tail and Echidna knew she could ask Naga about that with Mika (when she actually told people), because she knew Naga had a natural birth with both Mika and Kaliya.

Scorpio smiled at her, helping cut up some of Mika’s food.

Maybe this would be all right.

\------------------

She knew he needed to go out of town. The grocery store was scouting new real estate for another store in a neighboring city and, as manager of a current (and very successful) store, the owner wanted Scorpio there to give his opinion and assessment. Hell, the district manager was making noises about retiring and the owner had already talked to Scorpio about taking on the job. That would mean a promotion, more money, more benefits, but also longer work hours. Which was the exact opposite of what either of them wanted right now.

Echidna curled up in the corner of the couch, holding her bear close.

He couldn’t really get out of this work trip—he’d tried. She was trying to be okay with all the changes coming in their lives and was having a hard time. People knew she was pregnant, had known for a month now, and she was barely beginning to show (which freaked her out), and they’d found a house they were closing on soon. (Much to her chagrin, the house was in Naga’s and Stinger’s neighborhood, on the next _goddamn_ street over from them. Naga was over the moon. Echidna was going to kill someone. They’d looked in other neighborhoods and nothing else had come close to this floor plan, lot and price. She’d had to admit defeat and go with this house.) This was too fucking much change all at once and she was overwhelmed and wanted to hole up in the apartment for a weekend, enjoy what felt normal while she could.

She’d helped him pack that morning, not because he needed the help, but because that gave her something to do. Scorpio had started to cross the line into overprotective bullshit, with making sure she had food in the apartment and queuing up orders via drone, but she’d glared and told him she was perfectly capable of getting her own food and he backed off quickly. Honestly, they fought about lots of things throughout their relationship, but she had to warn him to back off at least once a week. He _was_ getting better about recognizing what he was doing. He’d left an hour ago, told her he’d check in via message often and call that night. A final, lingering kiss and he was gone.

Change was the _worst_.

At least they’d gotten their sex life back on track.

A tear rolled down her cheek. Fuck, she was crying about nothing now. She loved this apartment, had lived here for over six years. There were too many what-ifs with the house—what if the neighbors were too loud, what if something broke, what if… And then the baby and the check-ups and everyone asking her very intrusive questions, acting like that was completely normal. The only people she would tolerate asking personal questions about her birth plan were Scorpio, Naga and her doctor. Even Stinger could fuck right off with those questions. She’d made the mistake of going along to one of Naga’s Ophiuchus group parent nights. So much shit she had never thought about, didn’t want to know, and now couldn’t get out of her head.

_Are you going to co-sleep?_

_Most women from the Ophiuchus System can’t breastfeed._

_You should really do genetic testing._

There was more, but she was purposely blocking the conversation from her memory. They all seemed to love being parents. No one seemed terrified or like they had no clue what was going on. And they were all on a different level from her. She wanted to know how many diapers they would realistically need, but felt stupid asking that question. She wanted to ask Naga about how he birthed Mika with her scorpion tail, but never found an opportunity. (The latest scan her doctor did showed that her baby would indeed have a scorpion tail.)

She furiously wiped away the tears, trying to stop crying. This was stupid. She’d made the decision to do all this stuff. She didn’t need to be crying about anything. She didn’t need to listen to some weird ass parent group. She had found a parenting class to take and a couple of books to read. And she could always ask Naga when they went for coffee or ice cream.

The alert that someone was asking to be buzzed into the building went off on her phone. She tapped the alert and looked at the camera feed. Stinger? What in the actual fuck?

She opened the intercom, “What?”

He held up a bag. “Aniki asked me to drop this stuff off for you. Can I bring it up?”

“Fine.” She buzzed him into the building, and then quickly brushed away the tears, taking a few deep breaths. Stinger and Scorpio seemed to have gotten to a really good place over the last two years. Hell, she’d describe them as friends now. After they got married, Stinger seemed to accept that she was family and he mostly treated her the same way he treated Scorpio. She knew she’d have to be dying with no other options to rely on Stinger, but somehow, she knew he’d come through. She’d been convinced he’d be an ass when she and Scorpio told him and Naga about the pregnancy. He’d looked completely shocked, but then recovered with enthusiasm. If he’d been an ass to Scorpio individually, he hadn’t said anything. So maybe Stinger was getting to be okay. 

He got up to her apartment quickly. He set the bag down on the arm of the couch. “Aniki left all this over at my place after he finished them, remembered today when he was on the transport out of town, but he figured you could use some of this stuff this weekend.”

Echidna frowned, tugging the bag towards her and looking inside. “Why would he leave clothes he bought for me at your house?”

Now Stinger frowned. “Bought? He didn’t buy those.”

She pulled a black jersey dress from the bag. Mid-length, empire waist, perfect for during this stupid pregnancy and then after. She looked up. “What do you mean he didn’t buy them?”

Stinger shook his head. “He never told you.”

“Told me what?” she snapped.

“You never thought it was weird that he gives you clothes with no tags that fit perfectly?”

“I figured he got them at some indie boutique?”

“That he would never tell you the name of?”

“I don’t know,” Echidna shot back. “I thought he didn’t want me to know what store so I wouldn’t order anything myself and he could keep getting me things.”

“Well, he’s going to kill me now that I’m telling you this,” Stinger muttered, and then said directly to her, “He makes all of the clothes he gives you.”

She blinked. “What?” as if she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Naga’s told you I make Mika’s and Kaliya’s clothes? And blankets and stuffed animals?” She nodded. “Aniki has the same skill set. He’s made the girls some things, but he also spends the majority of his time making you clothes. If he said he was going out with me, we were probably working on clothes he wanted to make for you.”

Echidna didn’t even think, just spat out, “This was a _stupid_ thing to keep secret.”

“I thought so too.”

She pulled out her phone. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Maybe don’t kill the father of your child?” But Stinger also seemed to get that she was not serious about the threat. She put her phone down on the couch next to her, exhaling. She’d confront Scorpio about _this_ when he got home. For now, she was tired and didn’t really want to be alone, but that’s how this weekend was shaping up. “Are you okay?” Stinger asked softly.

“No,” she admitted.

“Is it because Aniki’s out of town?”

“A little bit, but I thought I could see Naga or something, but he’s busy all weekend.”

“Did you ask him that directly or did you assume?”

“Shut-up.”

Stinger nodded. “Here’s the thing—we’re taking the kids over to the community pool on Saturday for a couple of hours, because it’s been hot and Mika has been asking to go, and she’s had all green days at school recently, so it’s a treat for her.”

“I don’t want to know what ‘green days at school’ means.”

“It’s a behavior—never mind. We’re home all damn weekend. I know all this change has been really hard for you and if you don’t want to be alone, you could stay with us.”

She almost automatically said no. Because Stinger still irritated the hell out of her and her knee-jerk reaction to him was to refuse whatever he offered. But she was lonely and tired, and knew that they had a guest bedroom with a really soft mattress and private bathroom (and a door that locked, which meant their well-meaning three and a half year old couldn’t get in.) And if she stayed at the apartment all weekend, she’d just worry about everything.

“Fine,” she said, tone long-suffering. “But I am not going to the pool with you people.”

“It’s not required.”

She stood up and headed to the bedroom to put a few things in a tote bag, taking her bear and the new clothes with her. Before she got there, she turned back and asked, “Why are you offering?”

Stinger blinked. “Because you’re family and I care about you.”

“Since when?”

“Since my brother told me he intends to spend his life with you and I needed to shut the fuck up about everything in the past.” Stinger shrugged. “I know I was an asshole and I can’t really make up for that, but you can rely on me. I know you hate Christmases at our house. That’s why I’ve been putting vodka in the eggnog.”

“I knew it! I knew it was stronger than rum!”

Stinger smiled. “Get your things. I’ll let Naga know.”

She went into the bedroom and pulled a tote bag out of the bottom of the wardrobe. She threw some clothes and pajamas in the bag, and then took stock of the new things. Another version of the shawl, this time with a looser stitch in a lavender shade, great for summer. The black dress. Another top and some loungewear. She threw all the clothes in her bag and went to the bathroom to get some things. She got her vitamins out of the kitchen and was ready to go, tote bag over one shoulder and bear under her other arm.

“Naga wants to know what kind of pizza you want.”

“Pepperoni, mushroom and black olive.”

Stinger shook his head.

“You shut-up. You like pineapple on pizza and that’s _disgusting_.”

“We can square up about this when we get to the house.”

“Fine. But I’d kick your ass.”

“I know you’d kick my ass. That’s why I don’t challenge you to a fight.”

“I guess you’re not as stupid as I thought.”

\------------------

“What are you reading?”

“Galactic Trade Report.”

“Why?”

Echidna looked up from her datapad and gave Naga a sharp look. “Did you forget what I do for a living?”

“Right.” Naga sat down next to her on the couch. Kaliya was seven months old and sitting happily in a baby swing. She was sitting up on her own, playing with some toys dangling from the swing and chewing on a stuffed animal. Mika was running around the house, ecstatic about going to the pool, already wearing her bathing suit. Saturday morning. They were leaving for the pool soon. Stinger was in the kitchen packing a lunch. He offered to make some for her, but she figured she’d just eat the leftover pizza from last night. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

“I mean, with the baby.”

“I know what you mean,” she shot back. She softened with, “I’m okay. It’s just a lot.”

“I’ve been there,” he said with a glance at the baby, who grinned at them. “I hear the store is seriously looking at Scorpio for district manager.”

Echidna sighed. “Yeah. They really like him.”

“But?”

“But what?”

Naga gave her a long-suffering look. “Do you think he should take the job?”

“It’s more money.”

“He’d have to work longer hours. Do you want that right now?”

She gave Naga a level look. “Ask me what you want to ask me.”

At least he looked a little bit guilty. “I know a lot of the Ophiuchus people here pretty well and I know what happened to me. In the Ophiuchus System, we don’t need money. There literally is none. You were an Enforcer so you likely knew that concept better than some. But once we got out here and realized we needed money to make decisions, stay alive, most people figured out quickly how finance and investments work. I didn’t start until after I left Rebellion, but I managed to get some decent returns, set up some funds for us. Balance bought the house as a gift, Champ gave us some seed money, but now we really only have consulting jobs once in a while. We’re pretty comfortable.”

“I get all that. Still not the question.”

“I’m assuming you have a stash as well. Have you told Scorpio about it?”

“No,” she admitted, and then quickly tacked on, “I mean, technically he could have found out because I made everything joint when we got married. He has access to it, but doesn’t explicitly know that yet.”

“Echidna, you are way better with money than anyone I know. And I don’t expect you to tell me how much you have stashed away. But Scorpio mentioned you all have enough in savings to buy a house outright, no mortgage. And I know that’s just what he’s aware of. Not the stash.”

She thought for a moment. “We’d only have to work if we want to.”

“See? You need to tell him that.”

“He’s not taking the district manager job until we talk about it.”

“If he knows about this, he’ll want to find something else with the company that lets him be flexible and able to stay home with the baby.”

She sighed. “I’ve thought a lot about it. I really want both of us to be able to stay home with the baby, at least for the first few years. Either we both work or we both stay home. Any other split seems like it will be unequitable, and I _hate_ the concept of someone being the primary parent.”

Naga smiled. “If anyone can pull that off, it’s you.”

“How do you and Stinger do it?”

“It’s not easy.” Naga glanced over the couch into the kitchen, where Stinger was finishing packing up their lunches. “But Stinger absolutely dotes on his children. I have a feeling Scorpio will be exactly the same way. So talk to him. Make a decision with all the information.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Aren’t you people going to the pool? I want to read this report in peace.”

Naga smiled. “Yes, we are.” He took the baby out of her swing, scooping her up and talking to her about how she was going to put on her bathing suit and swim diaper.

Echidna went back to the report, but glanced up when she felt someone looking at her. Mika was standing near her in front of the couch, holding a book. Not the kiddie datapad that she had (which had tons of books loaded), but an actual paper book. In fact, Echidna wasn’t even sure where Stinger and Naga had found a book like that. The cover was worn, like Mika loved the book. She was also wearing her pink and teal bathing suit and a pair of sandals, hair in two pineapple braids.

“Ba-chan?”

“What Mika?”

“What are you reading?”

“Galactic Trade Report.”

Mika nodded and climbed onto the couch next to her, still holding her book. “Maybe you can read me my book when you’re done?”

Fucking hell, was this kid really willing to wait until she went through this ridiculously long report? She really needed to ask Naga how his kids were so well behaved.

“Aren’t you leaving for the pool soon?”

“Papa needs to get Kaliya changed. And Tou-chan is still packing lunch. My book is short. Please?” She paused and then added, “When you’re done with your book.”

Echidna let out a breath and put the datapad on the end table. “I can pause for a minute.”

Mika smiled and moved closer, so she was sitting directly next to Echidna, pressed against her. Echidna took the book from her. The story was just a silly little kids’ tale about a unicorn that wanted to make friends with other magical creatures, but Mika clearly loved the story. She was eagerly anticipating every page and leaning over Echidna’s lap to look at the pictures. Echidna ended up wrapping one arm around the little girl and balanced the book in the other hand. She got to the end and Mika said, “That’s my favorite book. I like it when you read it.”

“Thank you?” Echidna said, a little confused, not sure what to say.

“I like your hair too.” Mika reached up and touched one of her braids. Her hair was currently a swirl of teal, blue and purple. “Tou-chan says I can’t have my hair that color until I’m older.”

“Tell you what, when you’re older, I’ll help you pick out a fun color for your hair. Which color is your favorite?”

“Purple,” Mika said immediately.

“I like purple too.”

Naga came into the living room with Kaliya, all ready to go to the pool. He also looked like he’d changed into appropriate clothes for that. “You ready, Mika?” he asked.

She nodded, hugged Echidna and then scrambled off the couch.

“See you later,” she said.

“Everyone is going down for naps when we get back,” Naga muttered as he herded Mika towards the front door. Stinger appeared from the kitchen, cooler over one shoulder and picked up the diaper bag. He waved at Echidna as they left.

\------------------

Later that night, she tossed and turned, unable to go to sleep. She’d been exhausted the night before and fell asleep almost immediately. But tonight? No. She felt restless. And thirsty. Sighing, she threw off the covers and left the room, padding downstairs. The dining room light was on, and Naga and Stinger were at the table, looking at something on their datapads.

That was okay. She was appropriately dressed. Sports bra, tank top, pajama pants, nothing inappropriate.

“Hey, Echidna,” Naga greeted.

She went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine, Just can’t sleep.” She nodded at them. “Why are you two up?”

“Rebellion wants us to look over some relief plans,” Stinger explained.

“Raptor sent them over,” Naga added, “and we can really only concentrate when the girls are asleep.”

She nodded and started walking out of the room.

“Echidna?” Stinger called.

She turned around. “What?”

“Your baby bump is showing.”

He had the same shit-eating, teasing, annoying grin as his brother. She narrowed her eyes and simply snapped back, “Shut the fuck up, Stinger.”

As she climbed the stairs, she heard Naga comment, “Glad to see she’s feeling better.”

Back in the guest room, she couldn’t get comfortable, eventually finding a spot on her side and starting to doze a little bit.

At some point, she opened her eyes to shuffling around the room. Shit, had she forgotten to lock the door and Mika was in here (instead of going to Naga or Stinger?) But the shape was too big to be that little girl and she felt a pang of panic rip through her. She hit the lamp to turn the thing on and then sprang out of bed to subdue whoever was in the room—

—and damn hear put her own husband in a chokehold.

“Scorpio?” she ground out, stepping back. “What the fuck? You’re not supposed to be home until tomorrow.” She glanced the clock. “I mean, later today.”

He smiled. “I booked an earlier transport. Told my boss that my pregnant wife wasn’t feeling well and I really should get home. We didn’t have anything except travel tomorrow anyways.” He shrugged. “Apparently playing the pregnant wife card gets me out of a lot of stuff.”

She rolled her eyes. “Glad to be your excuse.”

“Hello to you too.”

“Shut the fuck up and come here.” She held out her arms and he gladly accepted the embrace, holding her tightly around the waist as she wound her arms around his neck. He leaned back, catching her in a sweet, open-mouthed kiss, hinting at more. Shit, she suddenly felt really horny. Her tits were kind of sore from pregnancy-related bullshit, but she was getting that familiar throbbing between her legs. He wouldn’t care if she left the sports bra on while they made love. (Which pissed her off because she really liked that part of their foreplay, and she’d even asked her doctor, who said what she was experiencing was completely normal.) “How do you feel about banging in your brother’s guest room?” she asked softly against his lips.

He laughed a little. “I’m not completely opposed to it.”

Then she caught sight of the extra bags in the room. Curiosity momentarily won out over arousal, because she heard herself asking, “What the hell did you buy?”

“Things for you,” was the evasive reply.

Which reminded her, “When the fuck were you going to tell me you make all the clothes you give me?”

Scorpio blinked, then swore. “Stinger told you, didn’t he?”

“That doesn’t matter! I mean, yes, he did, but why hide it in the first place?”

“I don’t know!” he admitted. “It was kind of fun making things you really loved and being the only source of those things.”

“I know you can make jewelry. What else?”

He gestured vaguely. “Everything else.”

“What? Like you knitted the shawls?”

“Crocheted, but yeah.”

“You are such a damn weirdo,” she muttered. “What else are you working on? Baby stuff?”

“I can take you into the garage tomorrow and show you.”

“Fine, but just know, I am annoyed with you.”

“Fair enough.”

“What’s in those bags?”

He stepped away from her with a grin. “Just a couple of things that might make things easier.” The first bag contained a body pillow that was meant to wrap around her, and prevent her from rolling over in her sleep. She immediately took the pillow to the bed, arranged the pillow and laid down. _Shit_ , that was nice. She then pushed some of the back pillow away from her.

“There’s room for you in here too,” she tossed out over her shoulder.

“Thanks,” he replied wryly, and came over to the bed with a small jar.

“What’s that?”

“Cream that’s supposed to help with your sore tits problem.”

“That shit’s not going to work,” she grumbled, snuggling against the pillow. He got over the pillow, spooning against her back.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” he said gently. “One of the people we met with just had a baby and said this stuff worked wonders for her.”

“You were talking about my boobs with someone else?”

“The conversation wasn’t like that.”

“Shame, that sounds spicy.”

He pulled her back against his chest a little, using one hand to maneuver the tank top and spots bra out of the way, and the other to grab some of the cream, gently rubbing the stuff into her skin. The cream was clearly cooling, smelled a little minty, but _goddamn_ , the stuff made some of the achiness go away immediately.

“You’re forgiven for whatever weird conversation you had. This shit is amazing.”

He got the stuff applied to the other side, pulled her clothing back into place and just held her against him for a moment, arms loosely around her waist.

Then she felt the slight movement at the same time he did.

He immediately pressed his palm against her stomach.

She covered his hand with hers.

_Their baby_.

“Can we have sex in the morning?” she whispered. “I just kind of want to enjoy this moment with you right now.”

“Anything you want, beautiful.”

At breakfast the next morning, they were greeted by a loud “Ji-chan!” from Mika. Echidna squeezed his hand before his niece came barreling into his arms. Scorpio had done well with his promise that morning, their lovemaking slow and sweet and fucking _melting_. She loved when they just had an opportunity to be close, sharing space, taking their time.

Scorpio swung Mika into his arms, saying good morning to Stinger and Naga.

Stinger was cooking and asked, “What do you want in your omelets?”

They named some ingredients. Scorpio put Mika in her booster seat at the table, while Echidna sat down next to Naga, who had Kaliya in his arms. She looked like she’d been fed and washed, and held her little arms out to Echidna. Naga passed the baby to her, and Echidna held her, staring at the little Ophiuchus baby. Her big brown eyes seemed to sparkle.

“You want some tea?” Naga asked her.

“Sure,” she said absently, still staring at the baby.

She could do this.

Everything would be okay.

\------------------

“I have been banned from watching the movers.”

“My understanding was you were getting anxious at the idea and when asked if you’d rather be here, you said yes.”

“Yes. I have been banned from watching the movers.”

“You opted out.”

“I was banned.”

“Okay, we both know that’s not what happened, but if it makes you feel better to say you were banned, fine, you were banned.”

Echidna leaned against the counter in their new house and made a face at Naga. A cleaning service had come through yesterday and scoured the place. After they left, some furniture delivery happened—some pieces for the baby’s nursery, their bedroom, and few home office items. The place had four bedrooms, which seemed absolutely ridiculous for them and one baby. The master bedroom was downstairs, like Stinger’s and Naga’s house, with a private bathroom, and the three bedrooms upstairs shared a bathroom. The room closest to the bathroom would be the nursery. One room would be a guest room. The third would be an office for them.

She sighed. Scorpio and Stinger were at the apartment with the movers.

The past three weeks had been difficult. Closing on the house, getting the furniture, arranging all the moving. She held her bear against her stomach, sipping the iced lemonade concoction that Naga brought over. She’d finally sat Scorpio down and talked to him about their real financial situation. He’d been stunned, and then a little hurt that she didn’t tell him before. The hurt quickly faded into pride about how she’d managed all of this over the years. The knowledge changed their decisions.

Scorpio had talked to the owner of the grocery store chain, essentially turning down the district manager job. She wanted to keep him with the company, and he was currently negotiating a consulting job with them. Still a very generous salary when he was consulting, but a much more flexible schedule. He was also staying on as manager with the current store until he could find and train his replacement. (Likely one of the assistant managers who was especially on top of things.)

Echidna had finally connected with her boss at her company. Her schedule was already extremely flexible, but she didn’t want to stay on as a full-time employee if that wasn’t what she was actually doing. Her boss wanted her to come in as a consultant on some high profile jobs and offered a ridiculously high fee for her to do so.

The parenting class she’d signed up for started next week.

And Naga had promised her one-on-one time to ask any questions or talk about any fears. Her therapist had also been really helpful with navigating the baby stuff.

“Hey Naga?” she asked.

“Yes?” he replied.

“Were you… scared before Mika was born?”

He smiled. “I was terrified. I’m about to birth this tiny baby that is going to rely on me completely for survival. I had no idea if I would be a good parent, and was pretty sure I would screw something up.”

_That_ made her feel better. “Then how come all the other parents act like everything is so easy?”

“No one wants to admit there’s a dark side to everything. When you bring the baby home, you’ll be in pain and exhausted and the baby won’t let you sleep. But there will be some piece of you that would do anything for the baby.”

“What if there’s not?” she whispered.

“Echidna…”

She put the lemonade down and rested a hand on her stomach. “I mean, I think I love the baby, but how am I supposed to be sure? What if the baby comes out and I don’t feel anything?”

Naga rested a hand on her shoulder. “You left the Ophiuchus System six and a half years ago. You gained and handled emotions better than a lot of the others. There’s no way you won’t love your baby.”

“I hope so.”

“Echidna, I’m here to help you. Stinger too. And you know Scorpio is going to dote on the baby.”

“I’m still scared.”

“That’s completely normal.” Naga stood next to her, nudging her a little. “Have you decided to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl?”

She sighed. “No, because I’m scared about that too.”

“Why?”

“I really want a girl. But what if it’s a boy? Or a true Ophiuchus male or female?”

Naga smiled again. “That’s easy. You’re going to love the baby no matter what.” He gave her a long look. “I know you. I think you should find out. Then you can eventually come to terms with the baby. And,” he added, “you never know what kind of identity the baby will express later.” He shrugged. “None of that really matters, because you just love your kid no matter what.”

“What if it’s a girl and she ends up like me?”

“What? Really smart?”

“Isolated. Or wanting to party too much.”

“You would not actually be disappointed if either of those happened.”

Echidna sighed. “No. Not really. I would just want her to be safe. Let me know she’s okay.”

“See? You’re going to be fine. On your next visit, tell the doctor you want the gender.”

“I already know the baby has a scorpion tail.”

Naga smiled and teased, “Now you get a scorpion baby of your own.”

“Shut-up,” she said with no ire, then asked, “Who has the girls today?”

“Balance. He was in town for a job.” Naga shook his head. “He wants to take everyone to dinner tonight, you and Scorpio included. Plus he promised me that if he was going to pump my kids full of sugar and let them run around, he would stick around and help deal with the meltdowns at bedtime.”

Echidna smiled.

They heard a truck pull into the driveway.

Naga glanced out the window. “Movers are here. You ready?”

She wasn’t ready, but she could remove some of the unknowns.

\------------------

Echidna really wanted to yell at Scorpio that giving birth was more disgusting than pregnancy and she’d been right all along, but right now this was _fucking terrible_. Everything hurt beyond her ability to even comprehend the level of pain, she’d been given the maximum dosage of all the painkillers, she hated the universe, hated Scorpio for agreeing to this with her.

And yet, as much as she wanted the baby _out_ , she wasn’t really ready. Maybe the baby could wait another hour? She’d be ready to be a parent in another hour.

“I can see the baby’s head!”

“Fucking hell,” she swore.

“You’re doing great,” Scorpio encouraged her.

She was probably breaking his hand from squeezing too hard, but he didn’t seem to care. She glanced up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I can’t do this,” she ground out. “I’m not ready for this. She’s going to hate me. I don’t even fucking know what we’re naming her!”

“Echidna,” the doctor was saying, “you need to push.”

“I don’t want to!” she cried to Scorpio.

He looked at her, eyes full of concern. “I don’t think I’m ready either,” he admitted.

“How are you not ready?!” she yelled. “You’re like the perfect uncle!”

“Yeah, because they’re my nieces! I can give them back! I’m stuck with this one!”

“Why are we having a baby we’re going to be stuck with?”

“I don’t know, but she is not fucking waiting anymore.”

She swore a lot internally, but tried to follow the doctor’s directions, bearing down as hard as she could. Fuck, if she couldn’t make the baby _wait a minute_ , then she needed to be _out_.

The roaring in her ears seemed to subside when she heard the baby cry. And she had no idea if she was relieved or excited or terrified, so she just burst into tears. Scorpio looked concerned, gently cupping her face. “Echidna, beautiful…”

“Just go get our baby,” she sobbed.

She’d read all the stupid birth books. She knew more unpleasantness for her was coming, but she could see the baby through those things, right? The nurses weighed and cleaned their baby girl. Echidna watched, still crying, as Scorpio helped put on her first diaper and wrapped her in a tiny baby quilt that he had made. The baby was still fussing a little, but Scorpio walked her over. He might have been scared a moment ago, but everything had changed now that he had the baby in his arms. He was smiling, staring down at her, obviously already in love after three minutes.

“Echidna, she’s perfect,” he murmured.

The baby had a shock of silver hair and a black scorpion tail. She didn’t get a scorpion baby or a snake baby—she got the hybrid baby. She frowned, guessing the silver hair wasn’t _that_ bad, because they made kiddie hair dyes and she could let the kid experiment with whatever hair color they wanted. Which would piss off Stinger because he told Mika she couldn’t do that until she was older. And honestly? That was fine. She enjoyed pissing off Stinger. She’d accidentally taught his four-year-old to swear recently. And Mika spilled the beans with a, _“Ba-chan says ‘fuck’ is a bad word.”_

“Do you want to hold her?”

Echidna blinked. “Me?”

Scorpio gave her a funny look. “Yes, she’s your daughter too.”

“I guess.”

She allowed Scorpio to settle the baby into her arms. She looked down at the little parasite that had just come out of her. The silver hair and, “Her eyes are two different colors.”

Scorpio focused and smiled, “They are.”

One silver eye, one brown eye.

“We got the hybrid baby,” Echidna mumbled. She felt heavy in her arms. Still no name for her, because they hadn’t been able to agree on much of anything around naming her. “Naga’s right,” she commented. “Newborns do look like angry red potatoes.”

Eventually, the nurses got her cleaned up and settled, and she and the baby were taken back to their regular room. The baby was settled in her bassinet next to the bed, sleeping. Scorpio was sitting against the headboard and Echidna was cuddled in his arms.

“What are we supposed to do with it?” she muttered.

“Wait until she’s big and strong and then kick her out of the house.”

“Oh right, that was _definitely_ in the parenting class.”

Scorpio nudged her playfully a little bit. She _hurt_ and wanted to sleep for a week. One of the nurses told her not to focus on her body or _downstairs_ until she got further through the healing process, but she wasn’t stupid. She looked fucking awful. “What are we going to name her?” he asked softly.

“Misha,” Echidna replied.

“Misha?” he repeated. “You have literally _never_ mentioned that name before.”

She shrugged. “I found it yesterday on a baby name site.”

“It’s pretty. What does it mean?”

“Bear.”

“Bear? You want to name our daughter Bear?”

Echidna reached over and pulled her teddy bear close to herself. Scorpio looked down at the worn plush, patting the bear’s head. The baby had her own teddy bear in the bassinet—hers was light purple and had been handmade by her father. She shrugged. “I always found a lot of comfort in this thing. Everything could be really dark for me, but the bear made me feel safe. I want our daughter to always feel safe.”

“Bears make you feel safe,” Scorpio mused. “I like it. Let’s call her Misha.”

“Okay.” She paused. “Scorpio?”

“Yeah?”

“I still don’t know what we’re supposed to do with her.”

“How about you hold her and see if you can figure that out?”

“No,” Echidna whined.

“You didn’t get to focus on her back in the delivery room.”

“What if I don’t love her?”

“You loved her when she was inside you, kicking you and making you sick,” he very reasonably pointed out.

“Yeah, but now she’s _out_ and it’s different.”

“Just hold her.”

“Fine.”

Scorpio got up and gently scooped the sleeping baby out of her bassinet. Misha. Her name was Misha. Echidna had to tell herself that. He handed the baby to her, settling the tiny bundle into her arms. She looked down at Misha. She already seemed a little less red and a little less angry. She looked peaceful, like she knew she was protected and someone would take care of her. Her silver hair looked a little bit unruly and Echidna wanted to smooth the strands. “I think she is going to be pretty,” Echidna said softly. She wasn’t sure what she felt, was sure she’d be terrified once Misha started crying, but right now, she just wanted to _protect her_. A tear rolled down her cheek, followed by another.

Scorpio got behind her on the bed again, arms around her and the baby.

“Hi Misha,” she whispered. “I don’t know how I’m going to figure out how to take care of you, so be patient with me please. But you’re so amazing right now.” She hesitated for just a moment and then whispered, “I love you baby girl. I’ll always protect you.”

She kept crying softly, staring down at her baby.

Scorpio kissed her temple.

She was fucking terrified.

But this was _her_ baby.

Somehow, that made all the difference.

\------------------

_Four Years Later_

Echidna stood at the counter in the kitchen, tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated hard on chopping the vegetables for that night’s dinner. Scorpio had gotten called to the store that day, and promised he’d pick up Misha and Kaliya from their preschool on the way home. Kaliya was five and starting kindergarten in the fall. Misha didn’t know yet, but she was also starting kindergarten.

The last parent-teacher conference at the preschool had been interesting.

_“Your daughter does not suffer fools well.”_

_“Meaning?”_

_“The other children were having trouble following directions and she got very frustrated. She asked me if she could use a bad word.”_

_“At least she asked permission?”_

The teacher then went on to say that Misha was extremely smart, already reading, and while she didn’t normally recommend starting kids in kindergarten early, mostly because even if they were smart enough, they lacked maturity. However, Misha also seemed mature enough to start regular school. She followed directions to the letter, liked to read, and was a good peer mentor. Her teacher had also mentioned that she was a little bit of a loner, but would play with some of the other kids from time to time. Her best friend was her cousin Kaliya.

_“You’re not going to say any bad words at school today, right? What are the bad words you’re not going to say?”_

_“Ummm… shut-up?”_

_“And?”_

_“Fuck.”_

_“And?”_

_“Shit.”_

_“Good. You’ll get a yellow day again if you use bad words.”_

Echidna was not totally shocked her daughter was the kid swearing at school. Hadn’t really occurred to her until too late that she needed to stop swearing in front of her baby. But the damage was done and _she_ wasn’t upset when Misha swore, but other adults didn’t like that so much. Scorpio actually thought Misha was pretty funny when she asked for permission to swear.

Well, these vegetables were almost done. She’d promised Scorpio she’d chop them. He was cooking for everyone that night. Kaliya was coming over with Misha, and Naga would pick Mika up from school, and along with Stinger, they’d get here in about an hour. She stepped back a little, rubbing her back a little bit. Her stomach had been bothering her all week and that was just the beginning. They’d talked about this, but took four years before she felt remotely ready again.

She focused and the vegetable chopping finally got done.

_Hell_ , why had she agreed to this? She hated chopping fruits and vegetables.

The front door opened. “Who can go hug Kaa-chan the fastest?”

Two little girls raced through the front hall and into the kitchen, slowing down once they saw her and gave her reasonable hugs. She hugged both girls back at once. Kaliya was slightly taller than Misha (for now), silver hair with pink streaks (her favorite color) and a matching pink backpack. Misha had purple streaks in her own hair, a backpack with superheroes and two different shoes because she couldn’t decide which pair and wanted to wear them both. (She didn’t tell Naga and Stinger before she helped the girls do the streaks in their hair. She just did them, sent Kaliya home and watched Scorpio field all the phone calls and messages with Stinger’s annoyance. Mostly because Mika now felt left out, so Echidna took her on a special day with just the two of them and got her hair done professionally.)

“Put your backpacks up and you can go in the backyard before dinner.”

Scorpio came into the kitchen with a smile. He drew her into his arms, kissing her softly. “Hey beautiful,” he said softly.

“Hey you,” she responded.

He moved his hand down to her stomach. “How are you feeling?”

“Terrible,” she sighed. She looked at the girls going out the back door. “Did you feed them?”

“Not yet. Figure I’ll give them some fruit in a minute.”

She nodded.

Scorpio gave her a long look. “Are you really ready to tell them?”

“No, but if we don’t tell them, Misha will. You know how she likes listing all the bad words she knows.”

Scorpio grinned. “We shouldn’t encourage her.”

“Yeah, but it’s funny.”

He was still grinning.

Over the years, change slowly started to seem less daunting. By the time Misha turned four and started going to regular preschool, Echidna felt like she could continue to handle change. She watched her daughter go from a tiny baby to a smart little kid. Her and Scorpio had to navigate their relationship—and sex life—around the needs of a baby. And yeah, Echidna was not a big fan of babies. They slept all day, demanded food and were utterly uninteresting. She would still fiercely protect Misha with her life, but still… she had been thrilled when Misha started holding her own head up and smiling. She was getting closer to be interactive.

Now, she had a kid who was too damn smart for her own good.

She kissed Scorpio quickly, told him she needed to send in a consulting project, and went upstairs to their office, leaving him to cook dinner and keep an eye on the girls. He agreed with an easy grin, knowing she needed some space before dinner.

An hour later, she wandered back downstairs as Stinger, Naga and Mika arrived. Mika was now eight, starting third grade in the fall. She ran over to Echidna and gave her a hug. “Hi Ba-chan!” she said breathlessly. “I won the essay contest at school! Can I read you my essay?”

Misha and Kaliya were back. Kaliya went to hug Stinger and Naga, while Misha looked at Mika with wide-eyed curiosity. “Can I listen too?” she asked.

Mika said that was fine, and they went into the living room to listen.

And Echidna had to admit, for an eight-year-old, the kid was pretty talented.

Right before dinner, in the kitchen, Naga opened a bottle of wine. “You want some?” he asked.

Echidna shook her head. “No,” and before she could stop herself, “I can’t right now.”

Naga blinked, then slowly smiled, putting two and two together. She _never_ said no to a glass of wine with dinner. Especially if more than one of the girls was at her house. He set everything down and pulled her into a hug. “Congratulations,” he said softly. “How far along?”

“Just ten weeks.”

“I guess I should tell you something too.” He looked at the wine. “That was for Stinger.” He let out a long breath. “I’m pregnant too. Twelve weeks.”

Echidna stared at him, stunned. “I didn’t know you wanted a third!”

“I didn’t know you wanted a second,” Naga shot back.

“Holy fuck,” Echidna whispered. “We’re having kids at the same time.” She looked at Scorpio and Stinger, wrangling the girls to the dinner table, asking if they washed their hands and how their behavior charts at school looked. Promises were made that anyone with a green day got ice cream from Bonnie’s after dinner. (Which was all the girls and Bonnie’s was in walking distance.) She shook her head. “You think those two are going to be able to handle it?”

Naga smiled. “Nope. But these babies will have excellent big sisters to guide them.”

Echidna hugged Naga again.

“You’re actually happy about this?” he asked.

“Yeah. Everything feels different now.”

“You seem happy.”

“I _am_ happy.” She squeezed Naga’s wrist. “Thank you for coming to see me all those years ago.”

Naga shrugged. “I think we both really needed a friend.”

She was surprised. “You needed a friend?”

“Things get lonely when you’re the only one from the Ophiuchus System. Stinger loves me, but he doesn’t really understand what that’s like. You always did.”

Echidna nudged him. “I’m glad we’re friends. Sorry I was so shitty to you for so long. Thanks for not giving up on me.”

“You’re worth it. And now I have a pretty awesome goddaughter.”

She smiled, then cringed a little, remembering, “I accidentally taught her a new bad word.”

Naga smiled. “I’m sure she’ll tell me all about it.”

She watched as Naga went into the dining room. Misha shimmied out of her chair and came into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Echidna’s waist. “What, baby girl?” she asked.

“Can I tell everyone I’m going to be a big sister?”

“Yes, you can.”

She kissed the top of Misha’s head, watching as her daughter practically skipped back into the dining room. _Fuck_ , her and Naga pregnant at the same time. She looked at her husband, her _family_ , gathered around the table. She couldn’t really imagine her life without them anymore.

This was where she _belonged_.

_Life is not a love song, we can try to fix our broken pieces one at a time._

Fin.

12 December 2018 – 15 May 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, everyone, THANK YOU SO MUCH! This was a crazy little idea I had for a fic, and I am so glad you all liked it! Thank you so much for your comments, kudos, asks and just being AWESOME readers. I always say Kyuranger readers are the best! Special thanks to 8bitstrawberrie for the encouragement and conversations!
> 
> I also know a lot of you wanted to see Stinger against Echidna's pregnancy, and I'm not saying that didn't happen, just... didn't make it into the final cut. On that note, I am officially taking requests for things you'd like to see in a follow-up. Between the scenes, before, after... can't promise how fast I will whip all that together (some real life stuff is kicking my butt), but feel free to leave me a comment here, or contact me over on tumblr! I'm open for ideas and requests!
> 
> Once again, I am flattered and humbled! I hope you all enjoyed! THANK YOU!


End file.
